Finding Hope in Mortality
by VictorianRomantic
Summary: A volume of pasts unfold. Curses and foxes, forgotten memories and cauldrons, jealousy and love, passion and friendship, secret admirers, a reputation and cold silence. Giliana Lenore and Todd Black have a lot ahead of them...
1. Introduction

**Introduction:**

This story was written by my Friend Karly and I.

WE wrote it together.

So, if you like it, and want to tell me I did a good job, remember to say "You and your friend did a good job." Or if you want to complain, say "You both suck at writing."

Just don't address anything to me only.

**Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter Characters and anything related was created by J. K. Rowling, of course. If I created them, I'd be a zillionare, and I wouldn't be writing a fanfic for my own stories.

Also, Karly and I have tried are best to keep the characters in character.

Including the two that we made up.

**You might want to keep in mind:** This story is a little deep at times. If something bothers you, think about why the characters (mainly Todd and Giliana), would do that something before you decide if you don't like it or not.

**Also:** This story is about two characters that my friend and I created, that aren't your cheesy "Mary Sues." Yes, those are annoying, and I admit I've written some bad stories with Mary Sues in the past.

But the characters in this story, weren't created all perfect and loveable just so they could fall in love with some "hot" HP character. They were created for the sake of the story line, and they have their own personalities and in-depth characteristics.

**A more detailed summary of what you're about to start reading:**

Giliana Lenore suffers from a curse that was cast upon her when she was younger. She has a mysterious past, and for her, Nothing is what it seems. She meets Todd Black on her first day at Hogwarts, who becomes her only friend in the world. It is their friendship that helps them get through the events that are about to unfold...

Thanks for taking the time to look at this fanfic. You may begin reading the first chapter now.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did writing it. :)


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – Giliana Lenore**

Giliana Lenore always kept to herself. She was quiet, but not shy. She did not talk to those around her, for she didn't care about other people's business. There was a dark aura about her, yet she was sensitive, and had a keen understanding of human emotions. She was cold, but not mean. Her blue-grey eyes glowed with the coldness of winter, and her long black hair was as soft as her sensitivity. Her skin was pale, and she had a soft and gentle face, with devastating features.

She was a muggle-born, originally from England, who moved to the USA, living there until she was 14. After she completed her 4th year at Salem Witchcraft Society, she moved back to England to attend Hogwarts for her remaining years.

"Attention Please," Said Dumbledore, as he walked into the Potions classroom. The noisy classroom of entering students slowly quieted down.

"I am proud to introduce a new student to all the 5th years. This is Giliana Lenore. She is in Slytherin. She just moved here from the United States, and was a student at Salem Witchcraft Society." His eyes twinkled. "She was number one in her class and is incredibly smart. She wants to specialize in potions, and so she will do very well in this class, I'm sure. I would like all of you to give her a warm welcome." The class stared at the new girl; she gleamed like a new crayon out of a box.

Scattered unenthusiastic "hellos" and exited "welcomes" filled the room. In the middle of the greetings from the students, Draco Malfoy let out a huge whistle, looked over at Crabbe and Goyle, and laughed arrogantly. He watched as Giliana took her seat two rows behind him. He was astounded by her gorgeous body and devastating face. He flashed a flirtatious smile at her, and then turned to Crabbe and Goyle. "I'm going to make her mine." He whispered while looking back at her; his eyes focused on her cleavage. Giliana noticed Draco's eyes on her, and she glared at him. Annoyed, Draco turned away, and continued to chat with his friends in his seat. Dumbledore stayed in the classroom for a few more minutes, talking to Snape, as the class talked amongst themselves.

Giliana just sat in her seat, staring at her new potions book, all her new supplies. She looked around the classroom. Across from her, she saw a boy with glasses, sitting to next to some red-haired boy, and some girl with long and messy hair, talking. The boy with the glasses had a lightning bold shaped scar on his forehead...It was Harry Potter. _The_ Harry Potter. She had heard that he was going to Hogwarts now...but she never knew she would meet him, much less actually share a class with him. She was somewhat in awe at the sight of him. 15 year old Harry potter...

Dumbledore left the room, leaving Snape with his now-noisy classroom. This bothered him. He grabbed the heavy potions book, which had over 2,000 pages to it, and slammed it on the desk. The noisy classroom now had an eerie silence.

"Now that you are all quiet, we can finally do something _useful_ with our time. Turn to page 659." The class groaned. Snape looked around the room for a student to put on the spot. His head stopped at a girl with short red hair, sitting with all the ravenclaws.

"Miss Black." Snape's face twisted in a sort of spiteful delight.

"Uhh--" Startled, the girl dropped her potions book, and quickly picked it up. Her pale cheeks blushed slightly, but she didn't seem too phased. She had been distracted with some sort of doodle. Biting her lip, she mumbled to herself and tore through the book trying to find the right page.

"Please read the page out loud," Snape sneered, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes upon the slightly clumsy redhead.

She turned the pages for about 30 more seconds, obviously taking her time.

"Anytime now, Miss Black." Snape looked absolutely annoyed. "Or is it in your nature to be so ridiculously slow?" A few snickers came from the Slytherin side, but were silenced when Todd gave them a quick glare, then finally came to the right page. She began to read aloud.

"Uh... ah-hah. The Wit-sharpening Potion. To make the witch or wizard's mind more clear and focused, during any given event. It is made out of..."The girl's voice drifted off as Giliana's mind wandered; she had already known of this potion. There was something about the girl reading that made her seem different from the others. She too, seemed independent, just the way Giliana was. Giliana sensed some sort of loneliness, and sorrow in her, and she wanted to know more about this girl.

"...lets the drinker become able to focus. There." She sat back in her chair, as if she had settled the matter.

Snape, however, didn't have time for Todd's antics at the moment. He was focused on Giliana.

"Miss Lenore, is it?" His upper lip twitched as he began a slow walk towards her table. "Do you think because you're new, you don't have to pay attention in my class?" He stopped, and crossed his arms, his black cloaks swayed slightly in his movements. "This is hardly a way to make a good impression."

Giliana's heart jumped. She froze. She looked up at Snape, his eyes narrowed. Everyone's eyes were on her now. She did not like getting all this attention.

She bit her lip, and replied, "Well, with all due respect sir, I already know a great deal about this potion."

Draco let out a "woh-ho-ho, a smart ass!" as he and some of the Slytherins whistled.

"Mr. Malfoy, order please." Snape covered his amusement with annoyance.

Snape sneered. "I don't care what you already know, Miss Lenore. This is my class, and you are required to pay attention. I'm sure Miss. Granger knows all about this potion as well." Almost on cue, the long haired girl sitting next to Harry potter had lowered her hand and turned bright red.

Snape then turned around and walked back towards the front, black robes trailing behind him. With a sharp move, he turned and faced the class once more.

"Since Miss. Lenore has insisted on wasting so much time, we will be getting into groups of three now." A murmur like bees started to rise in the room. "But, I will be choosing the groups." Taking out his wand, he gave it a flick, and with a cruel smile, he sat at his desk, as the names of those in groups were written magically on the blackboard. "I want a wit-sharpening potion by the end of class. Ingredients are there." He motioned to an open cabinet.

The class groaned, seeing their partners, the houses were mixed. Snape seemed to want to cause as much unhappiness as possible. They moved to their assigned tables.

"Well done Lenore." Draco said to Giliana sarcastically, as he went to sit with his partners, the girl with the messy long hair, and the boy with the red hair who sat next to Harry.

Giliana sat in her seat. Embarrassed and humiliated, she lifted her head up high, pretending not to care. She got up, and walked over to the board, to see who her partners were.

She read to herself, _Giliana Lenore, Harry potter, and Todd Black._ Harry Potter. She froze, remembering why he was famous. It gave her chills along her spine. Well, she knew who Harry potter was, but Todd black?

"Who is Todd black?" she said, staring at the board.

Todd was standing behind Giliana, reading as well. Her grey eyes looked knowingly at Giliana. "That..." She picked up her bag, for her seat was right next to the blackboard. "Would be me." She half smiled politely. "Looks like Harry's already at our table." Her eyes flickered with some sadness for a moment, but she remained cheerful. "Come on." She walked to the table Harry was at. Harry was blushing a little, but she didn't pay much attention to it.

"Mr. Weasley, those are for mashing, not throwing. Ten points from Gryffindor." Snape shook his head in loathing as he watched Ron look dumbfounded at him, turn bright red, and sink down in his chair. Draco had obviously been egging on Ron.

Giliana followed Todd to their table. The two of the sat down and joined Harry.

"Hello Harry..." Said Giliana softly; she didn't know what to say to him. She looked over at Todd, seeking an introduction.

"Ey Harry." She put her bag down with a clunk on the table. Looking at Giliana, she smirked. "So, you're Giliana? Nice to meet you. This is Harry... which I'm sure you knew." She laughed teasingly. Sitting down, she got out the ingredients. "So, this is potions, obviously. Snape's a git... obviously. And he'll probably pick on you for a few weeks mostly, but he'll end up going back to either me or Harry eventually." Her silvery eyes now looked up from the table at Giliana.

"Snape doesn't bother me." Giliana's blank expression didn't change. "There are worse things than a strict teacher."

Todd looked surprised for a moment, but then her expression softened. "Yeah, I guess there are."

"I wish everyone else felt the same way you did. Snape is always trying to catch me doing something wrong..." Harry added, looking over at Snape in disgust. "Anyway, we should probably get started on this potion. I don't know about you two, but I really don't want to get on his bad side on the first week of school." Harry said, laying out the ingredients on the table.

Giliana stared at Draco with the messy-haired girl and the red-haired boy. She looked over at Todd and Harry in question. "Who are those two working with that Slytherin over there? And what's his name too?" She looked back at Draco and the other two.

"Those would be Harry's friends. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger... and that little jackass is Draco Malfoy." She opened the book to the right page, and took the armadillo bile and poured it in the already boiling water in the cauldron. "Sad to say, he's a distant relative of mine..." She shrugged, almost finding it amusing.

"Here Todd, I'll put in the scarab beetles for you." Harry blushed as he took the scarab beetles from in front of Todd, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh, thanks." She looked puzzled for a moment, but then went back to her normal slightly content expression.

Giliana kept looking at Draco, Ron, and Hermione. She watched how Draco insisted on putting in the ingredients in the wrong order, which would completely ruin the potion. Hermione argued with him to do it in the proper order, while Ron was sitting there with an angry expression on his face. "How come Draco doesn't like them?" She asked Todd and Harry.

Todd looked up at Harry knowingly with an amused expression. "Well." She put down the ginger roots that she was tearing, and handed them to Harry. "He's what you'd call a pureblood, right? And Purebloods usually think they're better than everyone else. Also, Ron and Hermione are in Gryffindor, and the worst sort of Slytherins automatically hate Gryffindors." She looked up at Giliana, brushing a stay strand of red hair out of her eyes. "Not that I'm suspecting you to start beating up Harry or anything." She winked.

"No, I'd rather not waste my time beating up someone for no reason." She said, with the same blank expression, only with a slight smile on her face that was hard to notice. "I guess I'm not like most Slytherins." She said, looking at Harry and Todd.

With most of his attention on making the potion, Harry stopped and looked over at Todd. "Uh, Todd, I forgot what to do with the ginger Roots, could you please show me?" He asked, a little hopeful that she would help him.

"I could help you with that." Giliana said, looking over at Harry. Harry stopped and looked at Giliana, slightly disappointed.

"Erm...You could?"

"Yes, adding the ginger roots is probably the hardest part in making a Wit-sharpening potion." She showed him how to do it, giving him exact instructions as she went along. Harry was impressed at how smart she was, she knew even more than Hermione. He was also surprised that she wasn't being funny when she told Snape she already knew how to make the potion.

"There, do you understand how to do it now?" Giliana asked Harry, taking her attention off the potion and looking at him.

"Yes...thank you." He said, still a bit disappointed.

"No problem." She said, and for the first time, Todd and Harry noticed that Giliana smiled.

Todd smiled back at Giliana, and watched their potion turn from a dark brown to a green.

"Now, we're supposed to turn it three times clockwise, and..." Suddenly a small explosion happened at Neville's table. Snape rushed over and cleaned it up, annoyed.

"Mr. Longbottom, I thought that your partners would keep you from picking up the wrong kind of roots. Maybe your stupidity is enough to overshadow the entire table." Todd paused, frowned, then looked back at them.

"Then, twice counterclockwise..." She picked up a large metal spoon and did so. The potion's smoke turned a very light blue.

"That Longbottom person doesn't look like he knows what he's doing. Maybe I can go and give him a hand." Giliana paused to think.

"Ah, not worth it." She bit her lip for a moment. "Snape'll have your head. Neville will be alright. He's got Hermione whispering him instructions now." She watched the potion, and turned off the heat, as the instructions said. "You seem to know a lot about potions, Giliana. I'm impressed." She smirked. "I am, however, an expert at some potions... bet I could beat you there." She teased.

"Heh, I really wouldn't care if you could. It just comes naturally to me. I know so much about potions, I could probably teach the class myself. But I'm sure Snape wouldn't like that." She smiled at Todd, the kind of smile where one's teeth don't show.

"Ahh, our potion is finished. It's just at the right color too. You two did well." She flashed the same smile at the both of them.

"You're pretty good at potions too Todd." Harry smiled a little smug at Todd, slightly blushing.

"Haha..." She smiled at them. "Ey, you aren't so bad yourselves. I'm just following the book, only a few potions I'm a true master at..." She pretended to brag.

"And what" Snape suddenly said from behind the table. "Would those be, Miss. Black?" He said her name in disgust, remembering her father. "Your potions are barely ever passing in this class. I'm curious."

"Err." She sat up straight. "That would be the Wolfsbane potion, professor." Her eyes sparkled with mischief.

Snape looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment, but then continued his usual glare at her. "Ah, yes. You'd know all about that one, wouldn't you?" As if he wanted to change the subject, he looked into the cauldron. "This potion.." he seemed as if he was searching for something wrong. "...is barely satisfactory. How pathetic." He smirked evilly at Harry and Giliana. He then turned and walked to another table.

Giliana's eyes widened. She suddenly felt resentment for Snape creeping in on her.

"How can that be! I've made these so many times...I can do it in the dark if I wanted to...it's been done perfectly..." She looked at Todd in shock.

"Oh, he knows it's good. He's just trying to be difficult." She seemed to wave it off like it was everyday stuff... which it was. "We'll pass just fine, he just won't like it when we do."

"Okay. Time's up. Take a vial and fill it with a sample of your... _concoction_ and bring it to me. After that, class is dismissed." "Who wants to face the beast this time?" She packed up her books, filling the vial with some of the potion, and waved her wand at the cauldron, making the goop disappear.

"I'll go. I want him to remember that I was in the group that made the best potion." Giliana said very determined.

"Heh, alright…good luck." She stood and watched Giliana.

"You don't need to wish me good luck you know...it's not like I'm walking into my own coffin." Giliana said to Todd, with a serious look on her face, slightly smiling through the seriousness.

"You'd be surprised with Snape." She grinned, loosening her silver and blue tie.

"Heh, we'll see. I'll meet you in the great hall, okay?"

"Alright." Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she waved at Harry and began to file out with other members of the class.

Harry blushed, and waved back, his eyes stuck on her as Hermione tried to get his attention as they walked out of the classroom.

Snape sat at his desk, floating the vials to their appropriate slots. Giliana was the last one to turn her potion in. Instead of giving it to Snape, she took her wand and floated her vial to its appropriate spot herself. Snape watched, and looked up.

"Miss Lenore, from now on do as I instruct. Do not take the initiative to show off again." He grumbled. With another wave of his wand, things around the room went to their proper places.

"I was just giving you a hand as seeing you've got more important things to do." She said to him, pretending to be in a good mood, and trying not to be bothered by him.

...Right." He sneered, rather nasally, and watched her, his lip curled. "Go away, please." Despite the please, there was no politeness in his voice.

Giliana ignored him asking her to leave, and walked over to the vials. She looked at each of them carefully.

"This one, right here." She was looking at Malfoy, Hermione, and Ron's Vial.

"What do you think of this potion Professor?"

Snape couldn't believe it. What the heck was this girl doing? His eyes twitched with annoyance.

"It's sloppy, no doubt due to Mr. Weasley's impatience, but it turned out almost satisfactory, thanks to Miss. Granger's last minute attempts. Why do you care?"

"Well Professor, I was just going to say, that if you did think it was good, then you would be very wrong. Its color is too dark, and that means that they added the ginger roots too soon." She continued to look at the vials carefully.

Snape stood up.

"Please leave, Miss Lenore, before things get not so pleasant." He almost was baring his teeth, he was fed up, even though she knew her stuff... it was annoying, her putting him in his place like that.

"Alright Professor, I see my presence is displeasing to you, so I shall leave. I'm sorry that I enjoy making potions so much." She went back to her seat, where all her books were layed out. She took out her wand and floated them into her bag. She looked back at Snape.

Snape watched her, his annoyance faded, and he sighed, sitting back down and putting his head on his hand. "Yes, yes. Run along."

Giliana smiled, somehow satisfied from Snape's discomfort. She looked away, and walked out the door, not looking back.

Snape rolled his eyes, and thought to himself: 'They get cockier every year... Even if they're easy on the eyes.'


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Alone in the Hallway**

Giliana walked down the hall, only looking straight in front of her. It was time for the Beginning of the year Feast. As she was walking, she couldn't help but be bothered with Snape. All the other potions teacher's she's had had always enjoyed her company. She would always stay after class, and help out. Back in the states, her old potions teacher even made her assistant professor, and she got to help everyone. She wasn't very happy here now...it wasn't the way she remembered it. But here she had made a friend. Back in the states she was lonely...

"What the hell?" Draco turned around, he had been bumped into by Giliana. Crabbe and Goyle started cracking their knuckles. Draco waved a hand at them, as if to say 'no, not now'. He smirked, looking charming with his slicked back blonde hair. "Hello. I'm Draco Malfoy, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle." He motioned to them with his head. "And you're Giliana Lenore?" He took her hand and kissed it. "A pleasure to meet you."

Giliana wasn't too pleased that she had bumped into Draco. But he was being polite, and so to not cause any commotion, she just went along with it.

"The pleasure is mine." She said, blankly.

Draco grinned, his teeth were completely white and straight. "Some of the Slytherin's are having a sort of party by the lake Saturday night. Would you like to come along?" Crabbe grinned, almost suggestively.

"What kind of party?" She asked, thinking about her decision to go or not.

Ah, just a get together, it's sort of a date, actually... if you don't mind." He smirked, looking her over.

She didn't like the way he was looking at her, but she noticed how attractive he was. She thought about it for a moment. She could not stand his arrogance though. "I don't know..." She looked him in the eye, her expression slightly changing into a glare.

"Well…just let me know, alright?" He looked a little disappointed. "Come on Crabbe, Goyle." He turned, and looked back at her again with a grin.

"I'll see you there." She said, with a slight smile. She had no interest in him, except for his looks. She decided she'd only go with him to try and meet more Slytherins, hoping they weren't all like him.

Draco paused, and looked at her. "Well, alright. That sounds... great." He grinned mischievously at her, bowed, then continued to walk.

Giliana waited a bit for him to be way ahead of her so she wouldn't have to worry about walking near him. She looked around her to see a few Slytherin girls who had witnessed Draco asking her do the party. They all looked at her in jealousy and envy. Giliana paid no attention to them, and just walked away, not looking back at all the jealous girls.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Evening Conversations**

She continued to walk until she got to the great hall. She avoided the Slytherin table, not wanting to have to eat with Draco. She looked around the room, and found Todd sitting over at the Ravenclaw table. She walked over to Todd.

"Is this seat taken?" She asked, pointing to the empty seat next to Todd.

Todd looked up, paused, then smiled. "Ah, no. Go right ahead. You're a little late." She looked up at the podium as Dumbledore approached it. Snape was not at the staff table, but nobody seemed too worried.

"Ahem." With Dumbledore's voice, the entire hall fell to silence. "I welcome you all to yet another feast. I will not keep you too long from your magnificent feast, but just always remember... the egg is not as important as the flying chicken." There was a long pause, filled with very quiet murmurs from the students. "Thank you. As for now!" He waved his hand, and the food appeared. "Enjoy." Todd smirked, and grabbed some chicken.

"I sometimes think he's senile." Taking a swig of pumpkin juice, she paused. "But he's the smartest man I know."

Giliana smiled. It felt good to have a friend now. She had separated herself from people so much that now she was finally opening up again. The feast made her happy, she had always loved Dumbledore's speeches. She was content. She gathered her thoughts, and began to enlighten Todd of why she was late.

"I ran into Draco on my way here." She began.

"Oh?" She had her mouth full of chicken, so she chewed and swallowed before talking again. "What did _he_ want?" She looked suspicious.

Nothing really. Nothing important. He just asked me to some party." Giliana began to poke at her food.

"That's weird... don't trust him, I doubt his intentions are completely friendly." She looked up when she heard the doors to the hall open. Snape was storming to the staff table. "Hmm.. wonder where he was?"

Giliana continued to peck at her food, pretending not to care. "Heheh, yeah, I wonder what got into him." She smiled mischievously.

Todd giggled. "You never know." Just then, the doors opened again, and an older shaggy looking, but very handsome man walked in. It took Todd a moment to look up, but when she did, she couldn't help but hide a huge grin. "Ah... heh. I'll see you after the feast? Someone's here for me." The man walked up to the staff table, shook Dumbledore's hand, and then walked towards where Todd was sitting. She stood, brushed off any crumbs from her robes and walked beside him and out the door. Giliana watched as Todd walked away, puzzled.

Lupin looked down at Todd, his eyes tired, but seemed to be very happy to see her. He took her to a darker part of the hall outside and stopped. "Todd." She cracked her neck, as an old habit.

"Sir," She teased.

"How's school this year?"

"Ah, not so bad, you know... considering." She was referring to Harry Potter, and her father.

"Ah, right... you shouldn't let that get to you, though. Harry has little knowledge of your involvement."

"Ah, I know.." She scratched her head and scrunched up her nose. "It's just hard. I miss him, Remus."

Lupin nodded in understanding, and shoved his hands in his pockets, rocking slightly on the balls of his feet. "Well, that's part of why I came here today, actually." Todd saw hope for the first time in a while.

"Oh? Does this have something to do with the order?" Lupin nodded. "Yes, I came here to address Professor Snape and the Headmaster on certain issues... as you know, we've been using Sirius's home for the order's headquarters. And, well...this year, I thought that maybe if things calm down, you could meet him again." Todd grinned.

"You think?" But the smile faded as she remembered... "Any chance that he'd recognize me?" She frowned to herself. Lupin frowned.

"It's really hard to say. I don't think Sirius remembers much of his life right before Azkaban. All he was focused on was killing Pettigrew." Todd's eyes teared up a bit, but as soon as she saw his sympathetic look, she straightened up and showed a fake smile.

"Yeah...silly of me to think he'd want to see me more, right?"

Lupin sighed slightly. "You know he loved you. He loved you more than anything. He'll be glad to see you…even if he won't remember right away. I'm sure of it." He put his hand gently on her shoulder.

"Yeah." She smiled weakly.

"Look, things in the wizard world might be getting crazy soon, and as you know, I'm on one of the front line of Aurors... so, I just want to make sure you take care of yourself while you're here."

"Haha, don't say that!" She laughed a little, a tear running down her cheek. "Oh, look what you did." She reached up to wipe her face, but Lupin got there first. Lupin wiped away a couple of tears with a single finger. Slowly, he ran a hand through her short hair and smiled a little. "You're too pretty to cry like that. Silly girl."

And with that, Todd wrapped her arms around him, and they shared an embrace for a long moment. The crowd from the feast started to pile out the doors. Lupin spoke quietly into her ear. "I think I'm staying tonight down at Hagrid's, we have Giant business to discuss... quite literally. So, if you want to come see me, you know where I am. Might want to put on the old disguise, just to be safe."

Giliana was sitting at the Ravenclaw table, poking at her food. She thought about Snape...and how she couldn't stand how he was so rude to her. But oh well, it could have been worse, she reminded herself. She continued eating contently.

"Hey you, you're at the wrong table! Haha!"

Giliana rolled her eyes and looked up. It was one of the Slytherin girls. She had long golden blonde hair, and was also very attractive. Giliana took one good look at her, and then went back to eating, she didn't care.

"Hey, Lenore! Did you hear me? You're at the wrong table." The girl was getting impatient.

"Yes, I can see that, but why have you come to join me?" She asked, as she continued to eat.

"Well, Slytherins only eat with Slytherins. What kind of shit are you trying to pull? Draco's girlfriend should be eating with him anyway." She said with her arms crossed.

"Haha, I'm not his girlfriend. You can have him." Giliana smiled in amusement.

"So now you're in denial? Well too bad for you the word is already out. He's already told the whole Slytherin table, about how he's dating the new girl."

Giliana laughed.

"You know what I think? You're an insult to Slytherins. Sitting with the Ravenclaws. Befriending one of them. I can't believe he picked you."

"Neither can I." Giliana said, and she shrugged. Getting fed up with this girl, and assuming Todd wasn't going to be coming back, she got up, and walked out of the hall. As she walked, she overheard Todd talking, and she stopped to find her. Lupin pulled back and motioned to the crowd. "We wouldn't want to start any nasty rumors, would we?" Todd grinned. "What sort of rumors, Remus?" "Aha.. I'm sure you can guess." He then leaned down and kissed her softly on the forehead. "Go try to get some sleep."

"Alright! If you insist!" She rolled her eyes teasingly and stepped back. "Later, Moony." She turned and walked towards the crowd, seeing Giliana. "Ey."

"Good evening Todd." Giliana smiled. "I saw that by the way. So you ditches me for your romantic affairs?"

"Saw what?" She said innocently, knowing she saw. Giliana smiled.

"Heh, no matter, that's pretty cute," Giliana teased.

"Hah. You know little of what you speak of." Todd laughed a little and continued to walk with her.

"Heh, true. Very true." She smiled at her.

"So who is that man?" Giliana asked, "Moony, or whatever his name is."

"Heh. His name's Remus. Remus Lupin." She looked up at the tall ceilings.

"And how did you meet him?" She continued to question her.

"He looked after me when my father...died."

Giliana just looked at her sympathetically when she realized what she brought up.

"I'm sorry. I know how it feels to lose a loved one..."

She nodded. "Yeah…it's hard, but.. It's okay, mostly." She shrugged. "Life goes on..."

"Yeah, life goes on..." She stared out the window they were passing.

Snape was walking down the hall. His eyes focused on the ground, then he spotted Todd and Giliana. He stopped, looking as if he wanted to talk. Todd looked confused, but she probably knew what was coming.

"What's wrong Todd?" Giliana asked her.

"Ah...oh..."

"...Miss Black, where has Lupin gone off to?" She hesitated, hating Snape.

"I believe he went down to Hagrid's for the night..."

"Oh, right..." he looked over them both with a sort of annoyed glare. "It would be wise to stay in for the night, Todd..."

Giliana couldn't help it. She let out a laugh, then promptly covered her mouth. She was acting quite strange as she's never that open with her emotions. Todd raised an eyebrow at Giliana. Snape did the same. "What is so funny, Miss Lenore?" He was annoyed. Very annoyed.

"Nothing..." she just smiled, and quickly looked away from them. Trying to distract herself.

"...Right. Anyway. It would be my greatest joy to catch you out of school after hours, Miss Black. So don't think I won't be watching." He was about to walk again. "Oh, wait." He almost snarled. "I believe you don't know where the Slytherin common room is?" He stared at Giliana blankly, his pale face full of annoyance.

"Yeah, that too...care to escort me Professor?" she asked cheerfully.

"If I must..." He gave one final glare at Todd, and started walking quickly down the hall, robes flowing behind him. Todd smirked.

"Have fun... see you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow..." Giliana whispered at her, smiling.

Todd watched them till they turned the corner, then climbed the stairs to Ravenclaw tower, thinking about later tonight the whole way.

Snape slowed his pace slightly. "Keep up." He turned to a set of spiral stairs leading down.

"Sorry Professor, I'm a bit tired I'm afraid." She picked up her pace.

He went down the stairs. "It's fine. Just in a hurry." he began to mumble. "I'm determined to catch her this time..."

"Pardon me, but did you say _'catch her?'_ May I enquire as to who you are talking about Professor?" She knew who he meant.

"Ah.." He turned a sharp stone corner, the temperature was getting colder. "Miss Black has a habit of being out after hours. Very late. I've never caught her red handed, but...never mind, it's none of your business."

"I believe it's a bit cold in here Professor..." She began to rub the sides of her arms. "And if you don't mind me suggesting...Perhaps you should find something more valuable to do with your time?"

"It's the dungeon." He stated what he thought was obvious. Snape slowed down and glared at her. "And what I do with my time is none of your concern."

"Of course it isn't. My apologies Professor." She smiled, feeling satisfaction.

Snape then turned into a hall full of portraits. He approached a rather nasty looking female who was sowing and said: "Albino." The portrait swung open. "Albino is the password... obviously. So, here it is."

"Thank you. T'was kind of you to show me around." She smiled slightly, out of honesty.

"Er." He paused, nobody was ever nice to him, least of all a student. "No problem." He turned and quickly and began to walk away.

"Have a good night Professor, and get your rest. You need plenty of sleep to deal with all the students tomorrow, no?"

Snape stopped, looked at her, his lip up in almost disgust. _You're the only one I'm dreading dealing with. _

"Right." He hesitated walking, but did so around the corner and out of sight.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – A Midnight Stroll**

Giliana walked into the Slytherin common room, quietly and carefully, hoping she wouldn't bump into Draco. There was no one there. She walked up the stairs to the Girls dorm room, and found her suitcase already there for her, with an assigned bed by a narrow, old window. She sat down, and looked out of the narrow window into the darkness. She thought about Todd. Was she out there that moment? She remembered what Snape said. _"Miss Black has a habit of being out after hours. Very late. I've never caught her red handed, but..." _ Why was she out late? What was she hiding...?

Todd was strolling through the dark halls quietly, she had put a charm on her shoes to silent them as they stepped on the hard ground. She was wearing a black tank top that wasn't long enough, and dark blue baggy plaid jeans that were tucked into her combat boots. She had her wand out, and watched the halls carefully. Near the front of the school, she unlocked an empty classroom and walked in. Putting the tip of the wand on her head, she muttered something quietly.

Giliana got into her white Victorian-style night gown. None of the Slytherin girls were in the dorm room yet, but about 3, who were asleep. She lay down in her bed and looked up at the ceiling, her head propped up with her hands, and her elbows sticking out to her sides. She could hear distant voices echoing from the Slytherin common room in the background. She realized how late it was. She began to worry about Todd. She wasn't as worried about Snape catching her, for it seemed like Todd could easily out smart him in a game of hide and go seek. It was the grounds, and the forest that worried her. She heard about all the strange things that have happened at Hogwarts...and all since Harry Potter was a first year. A teacher in cahoots with he-who-must-not-be-named, the chamber of secrets...dementors...a student who was killed last year. She shivered. She decided to get up, and go look for her. Find out why she wanders out in the night. She got up, put on her sound-less white slippers, and her wine-colored coat. She held her wand in her hand, in case of any emergency.

A small red fox left the classroom, keeping to the shadows, watching Filtch walk from the front doors. The fox slipped out of the door that was closing just in time, sighing in relief. Todd Black was an animagus. She ran across the yard, her eyes focused on the cabin in the distance that was pumping out smoke through the chimney, and pouring out light through it's windows. When she reached the door, she closed her eyes and turned back into her human form. Todd knocked on the door quietly, and a huge man came to answer it.

"Who could tha be at this hour?" Hagrid mumbled.

"Oh, I think I have an idea." Lupin stood from his chair and watched the door. When Hagrid opened the door, Todd smiled a little.

"Hi, Hagrid..." She gave a small wave.

"Ah, righ'! Miss Black. Well, com'on in." He opened the door and stepped back.

"Heh, thanks Hagrid." She walked in, looking at the floor, then lifted her head up to where Lupin was standing. "Sir." She teased yet again.

Snape was patrolling the halls. He heard the front door close, and was about to rush there, but Filch was coming from the front, and assumed that he had closed it. He looked disappointed when he nodded to Filtch in greeting. His face filled with loathing and annoyance.

Giliana walked along the dark hallways of the dungeon. She whispered into her wand a spell that cast out a dim, but helpful light. She could hear nothing but the soft sound of the cool breeze, and the dripping of water in various places. It was hard to see there, but it didn't bother Giliana Lenore.

Snape was walking down a hall, and saw a dim light. Shaking his want, it emitted a large light, and he saw the culprit. He quickly walked up to her and grinned in triumph.

"Miss Lenore. What, may I ask, are you doing?" He shone the light in her face, like interrogators would do.

She looked up at Snape, only his face light up by the light. It reminded her of a floating head.

"I thought you would be out here professor." She said, in her blank expression. Snape bared his teeth.

"Oh?" He then lowered his wand a bit. "That is not an excuse to be out this late, no matter how noble your intentions. Come. We will go see Remus about this." He grinned. He hoped that he would catch Todd as well. He took her arm roughly and began to walk towards the entrance. Giliana just walked quietly with him, saying nothing, and worried about nothing. She knew that there was no way for Snape to find Todd, with herself as a distraction.

Todd was laying down in Hagrid's bed, staring at the ceiling. She was listening to the sounds of the dark forest. The creepy, horrifying, but incredibly intriguing noises that made her feel wonderful, but on edge. "Yes, Hagrid.. the giants will probably go to he-who-must-not-be-named's side.. and I don't know if there's anything we can do about it." Lupin took a sip of tea that Hagrid had made. Hagrid grumbled. "All righ', then... but am I still goin' on tha' trip?" Remus nodded. "We can at least still try." Todd was used to all this business talk, Lupin was a very important man in the wizarding world. She smiled quietly to herself seeing the patches and tears in his clothes, and the faint scratch scars on his face. He was very important, but his appearance sometimes suggested otherwise.

Snape opened the front door and began to walk down to the cabin, a look of triumph on his twisted face. He didn't slow the pace. He marched all the way down, wand in front of him giving them light, and let go of Giliana only when they reached the front door. Taking a moment, he cleared his throat and pounded on the door. "Open up. It's Severus." He grumbled.

Todd froze for a moment, then took the wand out of her pocket, put it to her forehead and mumbled something. Lupin quickly turned to her about to tell her to change, but all he saw was a small red fox climbing under the bed. He smiled calmly, then looked at the door. "All righ', all righ'." Hagrid opened the door wide enough for Snape to come in. "Can I help ya, Professor?"

Snape pulled Giliana inside the house. "She was caught out of bed at this hour, do you know anything of this?" Giliana stood there, the same blank expression on her face.

He felt Todd scratch a little at his leg, meaning that she knew her. "Ah... yes, Severus. Miss... ...uh." He looked at Giliana, and saw her mouth LENORE. "Lenore. Yes, Miss Lenore was on her way to see us. She was going to demonstrate her potions skills. I apologize, professor, I should have notified you." Lupin was in fact, an amazing liar.

Snape looked like he was growling. "Oh?" He looked at Giliana suspiciously. "I see..."

Giliana could see why Todd was friends with this man. And she was grateful to him for getting her out of the mess.

She looked at Snape, slightly smiling, and had a look on her face that looked like she was about to say 'see, I was innocent all along.'

Snape gave a look of loathing at Lupin, turned, with a whip of his robes, and marched out, not bothering to close the door. "Close the door please, Miss Lenore?" Lupin stood and looked towards under the bed, wondering if Todd trusted her enough to show herself.

Giliana had a dark smile on her face as she watched Snape walk away until he was out of sight. She turned around and closed the door behind her, walked over to a seat that Hagrid offered for her, and sat down.

A small red fox emerged from under the bed, stood up on it's hind legs, and changed back into a human. It was Todd. "Hey, Giliana." She smiled sheepishly. "Out trying to find me?" Todd jumped back on the bed and sat Indian style, taking out a bar of chocolate from her pockets.

Giliana's eyes widened slightly, but looked as if she had shown no interest or surprise.

"Can I have some chocolate?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah." She threw Giliana a piece from her pocket. "Heh, Snape's so obsessive lately.." "Professor Snape, Todd." He smirked. "Heh, right, Professor Snape is becoming obsessed with finding me out this late... I guess it's because of his loathing for your old group, eh Remus?" She threw him and Hagrid each a piece of chocolate. Lupin caught the chocolate, and nodded slightly. "Yeah. My old group wasn't exactly... nice to him." Hagrid dropped the chocolate, and with a loud creak of his huge chair, got it from the floor.

Giliana raised her head slightly, and looked at Lupin. Her expressionless face remind the same.

"Wasn't nice to him?"

"Heh.. well, I can't say I'm not guilty, because I let it happen, but James and Sirius had a specialty for picking on Professor Snape." Lupin leaned back in his chair.

"Picking on him?" Giliana's expression didn't change.

"Well, there were many instances... they were incredibly cruel... but they just thought of it as a good time." Lupin bit into the chocolate.

"That's an odd way of having a good time." She stated. She sounded slightly annoyed, but it was hard to notice.

"Yes, yes it is." He glanced over at Todd, wondering what she was doing. Todd was staring out the window into the forest, chewing on a piece of chocolate. "Snape wasn't exactly innocent either. He tried to curse them every chance he could... he even tried some unforgivable ones..." She said quietly.

"unforgivable curses..." she whispered, losing herself in thought and staring into Hagrid's fireplace.

Lupin didn't even try to correct her disrespect for Snape this time. He also became lost in thought, Todd seemed to be as well. After a minute or two, Hagrid cleared his throat and stood up. "Well, 'ate to kick ya kids out, but I'm gonna be needin' my sleep." He opened the door, and smiled kindly.

"Yes, it wouldn't be right to keep you up. You're Hagrid I suppose?" Giliana looked up at him, as she got up to leave.

"Uh-huh, you're new, ain't yah?" He nodded. "I'm Hagrid, groundskeeper 'ere in Hogwarts." Todd stood and walked out the door, smiling. "Bye Hagrid." Lupin followed Todd out, nodding at Hagrid.

Giliana continued to walk through the doorway and outside, following the others. She stopped right by the doorway, turned around, thanked Hagrid, and left, leaving Hagrid to close the door.

Todd and Lupin stood right outside. "I believe you can make it back on your own, Miss Lenore? I have some things to discuss with Todd, if that's alright..."

"Of course. I'll be fine on my own." She waved to them, and walked away.

Lupin took Todd's hand and walked towards the edge of the forbidden forest, out of sight. "She seems nice." Todd followed. "Yes, she is... very mature for her age." Lupin stopped and looked down at her. "Mmhm.." "Yep.." He ran his fingers through her hair again, then leaned down and kissed her softly. Todd pressed herself against him, lost in the kiss.

Snape was standing inside the entrance hall.

Giliana walked into the entrance hall. It was dark, and quiet. She began to walk to the entrance to the dungeons.

Snape watched her from the shadows for a moment, before he walked and caught up to her.

"Miss Lenore, you may have gotten out if it this time, but if there's a next time, Lupin may not be here to cover for you. Keep that in mind." His voice dripped with hatred.

She smiled darkly at him.

"Yes Professor, I'm fully aware of that." She continued to walk humming very softly.

Snape growled, and walked towards his sleeping quarters, annoyed much more with her than he was comfortable with.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - **

The classroom was filled with various colored smokes. It was located in the dungeon, so the smoke would have to make it's way up the stairs to be released into the outside air. The class full of 5th years had just arrived for their Potions class, but the Professor was nowhere to be found. Minutes passed, before the heavy door swung open with fierceness. Snape rushed in and walked to the front of the classroom in his normal moody and hastened way. The headmaster, Professor Dumbledore slowly walked in the room and shut the door, making his way to the front of the room as well. Snape looked extremely... well, pissed off, but the Headmaster looked the same as always: calm, content, mysterious, and wise. He turned and looked at the class through his half-moon spectacles and cleared his throat. The class became silent.

"I apologize for keeping you from your Potions Master for the minutes you have been waiting here," Dumbledore began.

"We aren't complaining..." Todd whispered.

"But, I do have an announcement... to make." His voice was tired, but cheerful, and his eyes rested on Giliana. "Miss. Lenore will now be the teacher's aid for this class." The students began to murmur. "And I assure you she will be a valuable addition to this atmosphere." Dumbledore glanced over at Snape, who was clenching a fist and grumbling to himself.

"I will now leave you. This change will become effective next class for you, and Miss Lenore is to report to Professor Snape... after class." Dumbledore smirked mysteriously at the class, his eyes sparkling. He paused, and nodded once to the class in a silent goodbye, and left the classroom. Todd was staring at Giliana, a look of shock and admiration on her face. She smiled.

Giliana smiled and began to walk to her seat. As she passed Draco, he smacked her butt.

"Hey Giliana, how about giving me _"lessons"_ after class?" He asked, flirtatiously.

This bothered Giliana, but she kept calm. She walked up to him, and whispered into his ear.

"You see, I would give you _"lessons,"_ but I don't think you would be able to _understand_ them." She smiled sweetly at him, and went to her seat. Draco looked very confused and frustrated, as Crabbe and Goyle teased him about Giliana's rejection.

"There will be order in my classroom, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Lenore..." Snape was laughing on the inside, but his face remained unphased. "Now then, I will have... Miss. Lenore as my aid starting next class, but she does not have any authority whatsoever." He sneered around at the class. "Today we will be taking notes, there will be no practical application. I expect 5 feet of parchment. I will be checking." Snape turned to his large blackboard and waved his wand at it, gold writing began to write about a love potion. "I suspect complete maturity and silence during these notes. Please, begin."

Todd groaned, and slammed her head on the desk, staying there for a moment before hesitantly sitting up and pulling out parchment and ink from her messenger bag.

Draco laughed when he saw the writing on the board, and looked over at Giliana. Giliana ignored him. He looked back at the board. He began taking notes obsessively.

"Now, this potion is not to be taken lightly. If someone is slipped this, they will fall head over heels in love, well, rather obsession with the person who made it. Mr. Malfoy," Snape stopped. "Only 5 feet is required..." He mumbled, seeing Draco obsessively write. Todd was looking out the window more than she was writing, but she was in the corner, so her bad work habits went unnoticed by the potions master. Lupin had left this morning very early, she wondered when... or if, she was going to see him again. Being in the Order of the Phoenix was very dangerous... but she knew Lupin could handle himself. Snapping back to reality, she felt eyes on her, and looked back to see Harry suddenly looking away, and blushing slightly. Todd raised an eyebrow, still completely clueless. "Here are the ingredients." With a wave of his wand, the board changed to a list of many ingredients.

Giliana sat quietly in her seat, expressionless. She stared at the board. Love Potions. Hah. If there was anything she new most about, it was how to make love potions. She knew how to make every kind of love potion there was. This one was just basic. She looked down at her blank parchment. She had no need to take these notes. She knew love potions weren't worth it.

She looked over at Snape as he did some paperwork. She wondered why Snape would have them learn about love potions. She was surprised he didn't have the students learn about more useful potions. Love potions always seemed so pointless. And selfish.

After an hour, the class was bored to death, excluding Draco Malfoy, who had a severe writers cramp. As soon as the class was dismissed, and told to leave their notes on their desks, everyone seemed completely relieved and stood right away to walk out the door. Todd stood and looked down at her parchment, it was only 3 1/2 feet... so she drew a picture of a great big flower to fill up the rest of the 5 feet. Satisfied, she picked up her books and walked over to Giliana.

"See you at dinner? Good luck." She half smiled and glanced at the 'big bad Potion teacher' before walking out of the door with the rest of the crowd. Snape waved his wand, and all the parchments flew into a pile on an empty table near his desk.

"Miss Lenore, come here please." He spoke sternly.

Giliana got up from her seat, leaving her books and blank parchments on her desk. She walked over to the front of the room where Snape was.

She looked at him, waiting for him to tell her what to do next.

Snape slipped his wand into his pocket and turned to glare at her. "Listen. The Headmaster believes you are some sort of Potions protégée. So, I...hesitantly agreed to let you become my aid. You cannot slack off, or you will be serving detentions, or possibly being removed from your position." His voice was very serious; his eyes shook slightly before he continued. "You will have no authority in my classroom. You will do what I instruct you to do, and do not go along your own way."

Giliana nodded, waiting for Snape to continue talking.

"Right..." His lip curled in disgust. "You will have your own table to sit at up near my desk. You will do paperwork, but help assess potions when they are being made by the class. Do you understand your job? Do you have any questions?" Snape said this all in monotone. He seemed to be completely bored.

"Yes I have one. Am I boring you Professor?"

"No. I've decided to change my ways and turn into a Hufflepuff." Snape spoke with intense sarcasm. With that, he turned and walked to his desk. "You can go now." His voice dripped with annoyance.

"Is that all, Professor? You don't need me for any work?" She asked politely, still expressionless.  
"You can get out of my office." Snape busied himself with looking at the parchment in front of him, it had a huge flower about a foot long on it. He stared at it, shocked.  
A little disappointed that she couldn't do anything, she walked over to her desk and started to gather her things. She looked at her blank parchment, and remembered the notes assignment. She looked at Snape.   
"Uh, Professor, do you still want me to turn in the assignment?" She asked, from her desk.  
He looked up at her after a second, and paused, thinking. "Yes. It will be your final grade." He said simply.

She gulped.  
"...my final grade? How about I get my final grade on another assignment...a previous assignment. Love potions seem a bit foolish."  
"Love potions.." He wrote on Todd's paper. "Are completely foolish, in every way. But I am required to teach them to 5th years in preparation for 6th year potions." He looked at her. "I suppose I'll use your potion from last class for your last grade, then..." He looked at her with an ugly glare. "..Why are you still here?"  
Giliana shrugged. She didn't have an answer to that.  
Snape looked at her for a moment, as if she was the dumbest thing he had ever seen. He then pointed to the door, while glaring down at the parchment.

I guess I was just expecting to have a lot to do today, that's all." Giliana said, as she finished gathering her things.  
"You guessed wrong." He mumbled, continuing to grade the papers.  
Giliana watched him for a moment. She could at least help him with the papers. But oh well, she'd have plenty of opportunities to help out the class. A bit annoyed with his constant rude behavior, she sighed and put on a fake smile that would appear to be a true smile to anyone who didn't know her extremely well. She Grabbed her bag, and began to walk out of the classroom. Just before she walked through the doorway, she turned around and thanked Snape politely for letting her be the class aid.   
Snape looked very surprised. Nobody thanked him. He then twisted his face into yet another annoyed glare. "It wasn't my choice."  
Disgusted with his reaction, she quickly turned her head around, and walked in a fast pace. She didn't stop walking until she reached the great hall.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Todd was late. She didn't have a class before Potions, and she had decided to take a nap. She rubbed her eyes and straightened her uniform out as she walked, the huge potions book was weighing down her dark blue messenger bag. Running down the steps to the classroom, she tripped. Groaning, she got up slowly and rubbed her head. Great, Todd, great... god, Snape's gonna have my head. She turned a corner and rushed in the classroom.

"And so, your ingredients are in that cabinet there..." Snape casually waved his wand, and a cabinet opened to the side of the room. "Do not drink anything that anyone gives you this class... to avoid sheer embarrassment. Miss Lenore, please---" He looked up, seeing Todd rush to her seat. "Miss Black. See me after class." He looked at her in loathing, almost happy that she was late, just so he could have an excuse to punish her. He hated her father so much..."Miss Lenore, please supervise the potion making." Todd sat down slowly with a yawn, blushing a little when Snape told her to see him after class... she was sure she'd have a detention.

After gathering ingredients, and forming groups, the students began to make their love potions. Walking around the room, Giliana noticed how carefully Draco was making his, trying his hardest not to mess up.

_'That's a first,'_ she thought to herself, and she continued walking.

She walked over to where Todd was sitting, pretending to assist her.  
"Why were you late?" She asked.  
"Eh.. overslept." She ran her fingers through her messy hair. "Decided to take a nap, really." She was crushing some willow roots. Then she smiled. "Look at you, Miss. Authority Figure." She teased. She was in a group with two other Ravenclaws, one was a very handsome boy, and the other a very gothic looking female, she was quiet.

Giliana let out a slight smile.

"Don't worry, with me around, you won't be alone in detention with the old git." She whispered to Todd.  
"Haha, let's hope so. I had to clean a whole lot of stinky potion bottles last year. Made my hands swell up a little." She made a painful face for a moment, recalling the unpleasant memory. Her partners were adding some strange pink liquid to the cauldron. She added the willow roots. Giliana smiled. Her smile quickly faded as She checked to make sure Snape didn't have his eyes on her.  
"So who would you use this potion for?" She asked Todd cleverly.

Todd laughed a little. She looked up at Giliana with interest. "Nobody, really. Though, it would be entertaining to see it's effects... it's better if the love is real, not made with..." She stopped to look at the potions ingredients list. "Veela hair and black widow spider legs..." She raised an eyebrow before looking back up at Giliana. "What about you?"  
"Exactly what you said." she replied. Her face saddened a little bit as she looked at the ground.  
"Good to hear..." She looked into the potion, which was letting out a very sweet smell. She paused, wondering how all those disgusting ingredients could possibly smell so good. Glancing back up at Giliana, she frowned. "Something wrong?"  
"Hmm? Nothing." Giliana quickly slapped on a fake smile.

"Alright... get a vial, fill it with your potion, don't try to steal any..." He rolled his eyes, and mumbled something about crazy teenage hormones. "Bring it up here.." He looked as sour as usual.

"Mmm. He's in a great mood." Todd took a vial and filled it, bringing it up to Snape and quickly walking back to her seat... but then remembered she had to stay after class. She slumped into her seat and waited for everyone to leave. The classroom emptied except for Snape, Giliana, and Todd.

"Miss Black, up here please." Snape simply stated. Todd stood and walked to his desk. "Yes, Professor?" She smiled rather fakely.

Giliana walked over to her desk and sat down, trying to find something to do.

Snape spoke in a nasal, annoyed tone. "Why were you late?" Todd sighed deeply.

"I was busy murdering innocent children..." Todd grinned. She knew she was setting herself up for detention, but she was certain she would have gotten it anyway. "Is that a problem, sir?" Snape growled.

"Detention, this Saturday night, Miss Black. Be late to that, and I assure you, you will regret it." Snape looked as if he had just swallowed something slimy and disgusting. "Get out of my sight." "Gladly." Todd turned and got her backpack, winked at Giliana and left.

"Saturday night...?" Giliana spoke softly, her eyes busy on paperwork.

"Yes." Snape didn't bother looking up. He stood and walked to the cabinet, glancing over it's untidy contents. "Straighten this up, Miss Lenore."

She walked over to the cabinet. She began placing each thing back where it belonged.  
"Isn't Saturday night a little bit much?"

"Not for Miss. Black." He turned and looked around the classroom, seeing if anything else could be worked on. "I'm leaving early today, I have other business to attend to. Just, make the room clean." He bared his teeth a little and grabbed a bag that was packed full of something, and was about to head to the door.

"Wait, please..." She asked. Somehow she didn't know where that came from. She dropped a vial, and quickly picked it up. He turned and looked at her with curiosity, an eyebrow raised.

"Yes..?" His pale face looked dangerous in the dim lighting.

"Why do you pick on Todd so much?" She asked, a little bit nervous of what his reaction might be. Snape wasn't about to let her in on his past. It was strange, that she would ask something like that. Snape's eye twitched for a moment, before he finally spoke in a dark voice.

"She's disrespectful. It runs in her family." He mumbled, and stormed out, disappearing from view.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

It was a quiet Thursday morning, not very different from any of the others Giliana had seen. She walked down the dungeons, with her black messenger bag around her right shoulder; she was headed on her way to potions. She was dreading having to go to the class, for she was tired of Snape not giving her anything better to do but to clean up after the messes in the classroom, which would've been what detention students should have been doing. She sighed, and continued to walk along down the long dimly lit dungeons.

Todd had been sitting in the abandoned girl's laboratory, where Moaning Myrtle roamed. She sat way up high on a window shelf, the window open, a black cigarette rested delicately between her middle and index fingers. Myrtle had been complaining about the smoke for a good five minutes straight, but now was nowhere to be found. Myrtle didn't bother Todd much. Sure, she was annoying, but she enjoyed the large, cold room, where nobody ever ventured... and a little bit of annoyance from a ghost never killed her mood. She looked out of the window; the bathroom was one of the rooms on the bottom-most floors. Flicking the cigarette out the window, she sighed. Stretching a bit, she looked down at her pocket watch. In a moment of panic, she hopped off the window ledge a little too fast, landing with a slightly painful thump. Picking up her dark blue messenger bag and hastily swinging it over her shoulder, she rushed out of the room. She had lost track of time. Potions class was going to begin soon. She ventured down a spiral staircase into the dungeons. Slowing her pace a little, she saw Giliana walking ahead.

"Ey... wait up, you." Giliana slowed down, as Todd smiled a little and caught up, walking next to her. She pulled out a couple of pieces of drooble's gum and offered Giliana a piece before popping the other into her mouth. Her eyes looked slightly worn from lack of a good night's sleep. Her red hair was a mess, just the way she liked it.

"So, how has your morning been?" Giliana asked, while popping the piece of gum into her mouth.

"Eh. Kinda slow." Todd sighed slightly. "Stayed up all night doing that amazingly long essay Snape assigned. Don't know about you, but I've been dreading this class." She yawned before turning a corner with Giliana.

"Yeah I don't really blame you." Giliana yawned also, as if it were contagious. She stopped Todd as they were turning the corner. She put her hand in her messenger bag, searching around for something. She looked into her bag, pushing things aside. Her eyes light up when she finally found what she was looking for. She pulled out a small round black-metallic colored bottle, with a moon-shaped cap on the top.

"Muggle Perfume." She said, "It's the only kind of perfume I like." She sprayed it on Todd about three times in various places.

"Don't want Snape catching you." She said, with a slight smile on her face.

Todd stopped too, looking surprised.

"Uh..." After she sprayed it on, Todd had a look of great amusement. "Aw, he would be delighted to catch me! I could stay two more hours on Saturday for detention." She smirked.

"Catch you doing what, Miss Black?" Snape sneered, a look of delight in his eyes, as if he was going to catch her red handed with something particularly nasty. He had just appeared around the corner.

Snape looked from Todd to Giliana; a flicker of annoyance hid the softened expression.

"Right..." He began to walk, hesitated, but then stormed off quickly in direction of his classroom. Todd smirked.

"You really get under his skin sometimes, ya know?" She blew a bubble with the gum.

Giliana smiled a somewhat evil smile, with satisfaction.

"I know." She reached over, popped Todd's bubble with her wand.

Just then, a handsome boy with shiny dark blackish-blue hair, that was just a shade darker than the color of his eyes, walked up and stood behind Todd. He smiled when he noticed how no one knew he was there, until Giliana motioned Todd to look behind her. Todd jumped slightly at the unexpected company of this boy.

"Hello Todd." He smiled with his perfectly straight white teeth. He had a beautiful smile.

Todd's eyes widened slightly when she realized how handsome he was. Giliana looked at this extremely attractive boy. She had seen this figure before...

"Uhh...Hello." Todd spat out. Feeling slightly inferior to his powerful character. His looks could kill.

"I've been looking all over for you," he flashed a friendly smile. "I'm Damien." He politely let out his hand to shake hers. Todd hesitantly let out her hand to shake.

Giliana finally realized who it was. It was Damien Goodnight, a 7th year Slytherin. She had heard a lot of the Slytherin girls talk about him. He was more popular than Draco to all the Slytherin girls; mainly the 6th and 7th years because rarely a 5th year and under would even have a chance of meeting him.

Giliana watched as they shook hands. For a moment, both were memorized under the spell of his good looks and charm, as Damien continued to speak.

"I'm sorry if this is a bit uncomfortable for you, but I've come to return this book you dropped the other day." He held out a book that belonged to Todd: _The Life and Study of Foxes_. He handed her the book, and continued speaking.

"You see, I found this book out by a tree in the grounds of the school. I picked it up; I've always had this fixation with foxes," He smiled again, "and well, after skimming through the book, I wondered _'Who could have the same interest in foxes as me?'_ And I looked at the title page, and found _your_ name on it Todd." He smiled satisfyingly.

"After that, I decided I'd return it to you. And well, I also thought it would be a great opportunity to be acquainted with you." He blushed.

Todd blinked, hardly believing her ears. _What? Foxes?_ This was too weird. She paused and then smiled softly, all awkwardness and embarrassment removed, she came back to her normal calm self. "Well, thank you Damien." She took the book and glanced through it. "It's been missing for a while." She raised an eyebrow at Giliana, then looked back up at Damien. She was confused as to why Damien wanted to meet her. Letting out a slightly nervous giggle, she teased him.

"And how did you know my name, Mr. Popular?"

"_Mr. Popular?_" He laughed charmingly. "Don't flatter me with something like that." He smiled. "I realized you were Todd when I saw Snape approaching you, and I thought, _'Bingo! That's the one!'_"

"Oh, I see." She crossed her arms and bit her lip. "Well. Maybe I'll see you around?" She glanced down at her pocket watch. Potions class was very soon.

He realized that they were going to be late to their class if they didn't leave soon.

"Oh right, you two better be going off to class." He said, apologizing. "I really do hope we meet again soon Todd." He smiled at her.

"Right on." She smiled back, grey eyes sparkling slightly.

He nodded respectfully at both girls, turned around, and walked away.

Todd looked at Giliana, not saying one word, but her expression of surprise and pride said enough. Blinking and standing where she was for a moment, she finally moved and put the book into her messenger bag. Then she laughed a little at herself and shook her head.

Giliana sighed. "That was Damien Goodnight."

"Really?" Todd shrugged. "I knew he was popular, but I never really keep track of all the names... too confusing." She raised an eyebrow, then took a step forward towards where the Potions classroom was. "Shall we go?"

"Yes, I guess we shall." Giliana said blankly, trying to take in what had just happened. It didn't make sense to her that a popular Slytherin like Damien would be interested in a Ravenclaw.

Todd was also pretty phased, nothing really sunk in yet. But she shook it off and approached the heavy door. "Ready?" She smirked, paused, then pushed the door open as smoke poured out. The room was dark and crowded as usual. Snape had already begun class. They were late.

Snape looked up at them, and stopped talking. He looked completely revolted.

"Miss Black, Miss Lenore..." He took a step towards them, but no more. "Do you really find yourselves superior to the rest of the class?" He smirked evilly. "Or do you just believe...that you don't need to attend class because you know everything?" He looked at Giliana, and sneered. Snape raised an eyebrow and paused to see if they dared to answer. Some snickers came from the Slytherin end. "...Have a seat, see me after class."

Todd cursed under her breath, but apparently it wasn't quiet enough.

"Fifteen points from Ravenclaw, Miss Black." He said her name with a mocking sarcasm, as if he felt she didn't deserve to be addressed with 'Miss.'

Giliana quietly walked over to her seat in the front, embarrassed for arriving so late. It was really awkward having to sit near Snape for the remainder of class after getting into trouble for being late. But she didn't let that get to her. She looked down at her desk, and began to do some of the paperwork that Snape had already left for her. She tried her best to keep all her concentration on what she was doing, so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable.

Todd walked to her seat normally, avoiding eye contact with the students. Sitting down with a slam of her bag on the floor, she put her head on her desk for a moment.

"Now that that's out of the way..." He looked around the room. Snape was one of the only teachers in Hogwarts that could make the entire class completely quiet and still. "Hand in your reports. Gil-... Miss Lenore, please collect them." He turned away from the class for a moment as if he had said something wrong.

Todd sighed loudly, taking out her huge roll of parchment. She really tried on this assignment, and it probably deserved great marks, but was sure she wouldn't get much above average because of the hatred he had for her.

Giliana stopped what she was doing. He almost called her by her first name. Oh well. It was just a bit odd coming from him. She got up and walked around the room, collecting everyone's essay papers. She brought them back to her desk, and began to check off everyone who turned one in.

Surprisingly, Draco turned his in. As Giliana took a quick look at the essay, she noticed a small piece of parchment was hidden underneath it. She picked it up.

It was a note with her name on it. Checking to make sure Snape wasn't looking, she quickly unfolded it, and read what it said.

_Slytherin party at the lake is this Saturday._

_You're coming with me. You said you would._

_I'm going to show you the time of your life._

_Love, Draco._

Snape glanced at Giliana, but didn't act upon what he saw...yet. His eyes were glazed over for a moment before he addressed the class.

"Here's your assignment. Turn to page 402. Take notes until you reach chapter 15. That will be all for today."

He slowly approached Giliana's desk while the class busied itself with its assignment, some groans came from the Gryffindor side, and some complaints about how pointless notes are came from the Ravenclaw side. He ignored them.

"Miss Lenore." He simply stated, his palm outstretched.

Giliana had the note crumbled up in her hand. She continued to check off more names of students who completed their essays, despite the fact that she had to keep her right hand in a fist, even as she wrote.

"What is it professor?" she asked in a soft blank voice, not taking her eyes of her work.

"The note." He looked down at her without any expression of hatred... just slight annoyance. "I know you have it. Don't try my patience."

"What are you talking about?"

As she moved more papers, the note fell out of her right hand and onto the table. It rolled right off the desk and onto the floor, right besides Snape's feet. Giliana froze, slightly embarrassed.

Snape smirked. He bent over and picked it up, opening it instantly. His eyes moved across the paper, and a look of disgust overcame his rare calm manner. He glanced up at Draco, then looked at Giliana. "G-get back to work." He snapped, turning back to his desk and throwing the note in a wastebasket. Giliana's face turned red ever so slightly, but she sighed in relief at the fact that Snape didn't read it out to the class. She could feel Draco's eyes on her, but pretended she didn't notice, and forced herself to concentrate on finishing the checklist. She let her long black hair fall over and cover most of her face, as if it were a protective shield.

Snape sat at his desk, rummaging through things as if to keep himself completely busy.

Todd was lazily copying down notes, her eyes kept closing and her head kept sinking dangerously closer to the desk every few words she wrote.

"Ugh.." She muttered to herself, before dropping the quill and staring out the window again. Her eyes glazed over and her thoughts were once again, far away. _Remus_... She bit her lip and lay her head down. _Remus_.

Giliana looked away for a minute, to see how Todd was doing at her seat.

She noticed Todd's head was on her desk. She must have been thinking of Lupin.

She must miss him, Giliana thought. She knew what it was like to miss someone you truly care about...

Todd had fallen asleep. She hadn't gotten past a paragraph of notes. She was awoken by Snape's unpleasant loud voice.

"...useful. Class dismissed." He glared at Todd for a moment. Peeling herself off of the desk, she had ink on her left cheek. She stood rather shakily and went to Snape, as was instructed. Snape walked and stood in front of Giliana and Todd, pacing for a moment. "Miss Black, 2 extra hours this Saturday... and you must stay awake for the entire 5 hours."

_Damn you, "Snivellus"_...her eyes squinted in hatred.

"As for you, Miss Lenore. Clean." He pointed to his potions supplies in the separate room and walked to his desk, out of earshot.

Giliana shook her head.

"I guess I'll see you later then?" She said to Todd softly.

Todd half smiled with sympathy.

"Yeah... Later..." She grabbed her stuff and walked out, glancing back once. Bummed. Snape didn't look up. He stared at something on his desk.

Giliana began levitating some trash from the floor, leading it to the waste basket with her wand. She wanted to make the best of her time there, and a little charm just made things more pleasant.

She stopped, and picked up the pile of essays that she had checked off during class. She walked over to Snape's desk to hand them to him.

She noticed how he didn't take his eyes off of what ever he was doing. She finally opened her mouth.

"Professor" She gently dropped them on his desk

Snape didn't look up. He raised a hand and motioned to an empty box. He then turned the page of a piece of parchment, looking at some writing.

Giliana walked over to the empty box, and put the essays inside them. She looked over at Snape. He was still focused on whatever he had on his desk. The eerie silence frightened Giliana more than his usual cruelty and rude remarks. This was a little different. She decided to act like she wasn't bothered.

She quietly walked over to his desk.

"Thank you for not reading the note aloud by the way." She smiled.

Snape mumbled something before finally looking up at her.

"It wasn't out of the _kindness_ of my heart." He gave a small glare. "I do not wish to be on bad terms with Draco's father." He then looked back down at the parchment.

"Oh." Giliana looked slightly disappointed. "Well, it was still really nice of you to save Draco and I from embarrassment." She said softly, smiling slightly.

He slammed his fist on the desk.

"Just... " He took a deep breath before standing and walking to the door of his personal quarters. "Get out."

Giliana jumped at the sound of his fist slamming the desk. A look of confusion appeared on her normally blank face. She slowly walked back to her desk to gather her things.

Snape watched her, before whispering something at the door leading to his personal quarters, and pointing his wand, a grey mist surrounded the doorknob, and it opened. He walked in and shut the door.

Giliana quietly gathered her things, placing each book and object into her messenger bag. She looked over at the door Snape went to.

_I wonder what's gotten into him,_ She thought. With that, she picked up her bag, and walked out the door, trying to shrug off everything that happened during that class.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Giliana finished tying the strings on the back of her corset. She was wearing a long white peasant skirt, with a white corset. She was getting ready to go to the Slytherin party at the lake, since, she had promised Draco she would come; although she wasn't too excited about it after all.

She couldn't help but still feel embarrassment from Snape reading the note Draco had given her during class. She sighed, and shrugged it off. She looked around the dorm room. She was alone.

Most of the other Slytherins were already out by the lake, partying. Giliana was coming fashionably late; she wasn't in a hurry. She preferred to be alone in the dorm room anyway.

She put her things away neatly, walked out of the Slytherin dorm, and out of the common room.

Walking through the dungeons, she passed by Snape's classroom. She knew Todd had detention in there tonight. Was she in there now? What was she doing?

Todd slumped along the dark dungeon halls. She had to go to detention for 5 hours tonight. And, worst of all, no sleeping. He'd probably just make her sit there. He knew that would be punishing enough. Todd hated to be bored more than anything. When she was bored, she started thinking... and thinking about things in the present time isn't always a good idea. It always depressed her. And then she would lose her...edge?

Todd pondered to herself before slowly creaking open the large black door to the Potions classroom. She looked in and saw Snape sitting at his desk. She hesitantly closed the door and looked at the ground as she stormed to her seat, crossing her arms and looking to the right at the enchanted window that showed a view that wasn't really there -- they were underground, after all. Snape just grunted a little and glared at her as a greeting. He stood and walked to a large hourglass, and turned it over.

"When every last grain of sand is at the bottom...you may leave." He spoke with hatred. "If I catch you sleeping, you'll have to stand for the remainder of the time." Snape then walked to a cabinet and seemed to be taking an inventory of his supplies.

Giliana walked through the entrance hall, to the grounds. She walked along until she reached the lake.

She saw where the Slytherins were partying. There were Slytherin girls freak dancing on the shore in tight clothes and short skirts.

There were a few tables set up with cartons of butterbeer. A number of the Slytherin boys were sitting on the grass, drinking one right after another, joking and rough housing with each other.

Giliana walked past most of them, until she found Draco, sitting in a chair shirtless, showing off his beautifully fit body. He was bragging, joking, and talking with Crabbe and Goyle, who agreed to everything he said; and was drinking a container of butterbeer.

When he saw Giliana, he smirked. He got up, grabbed her right hand and kissed it.

"I'm so glad you came." He smiled mischievously. He was acting a bit giddy. Giliana could tell he hadn't been drinking lightly.

"I told you I would." She said to him expressionless. She always kept her word, and had wanted to come. But now that she was there, she wasn't impressed, and knew she was going to get bored.

"You look ravishing tonight." He smiled, and offered her a drink. She refused. "Suit yourself..." He shrugged, drank the butterbeer he had offered her, and smiled at her again.

Most of the time Giliana was there, she just sat next to Draco; his arm around her, telling jokes to Crabbe and Goyle, and a few others, who always laughed at his arrogant jokes. She fake laughed at all his jokes, just so she could go about unnoticed. She could feel some of the jealous girls' eyes on her back; all envying her for being Draco's "girlfriend," according to them.

Draco was very attractive, and probably why she had decided to come in the first place, but Giliana really couldn't see anything interesting in him. She couldn't see why so many Slytherin girls wanted him so much.

Todd sat in her seat, trying to save herself from boredom. Her eyes stung from the light smoke in the air, which was coming from a few cauldrons bubbling in the corners. Her thoughts were uneasy, every few moments turned back to Lupin. She couldn't stand thinking about him all the time, even if those thoughts were wonderful. Love was so complicated.

The clock was ticking, every second seemed slower than the last. She kept feeling her eyes getting heavy, and she almost put her head down a few times. It was getting later and later, but there was still more than half of the sand in the hourglass left. Todd struggled to stay awake. She looked over at Snape, feeling very annoyed.

He was endlessly grading papers at his desk. She couldn't understand how he could manage to stay awake just to see her suffer. Lupin continued to cross her mind, and all her thoughts became a blur, as she started to doze off...

"Miss Black." Snape looked at her, his teeth slightly bared, his eyes narrowed.

Todd quickly saved herself from falling asleep when she head Snape's eerie voice. She figured she was probably going to have to stand now. She sighed and pretending she was only looking down.

"I might consider making your time here shorter, only if you cooperate..." He stood up, and paused, his black robes swaying, and looked at the wastebasket by his desk. He slowly walked about the room, and stopped at a random desk. He looked very annoyed.

"Tell me, what do you know about this Slytherin party taking place tonight, Miss Black?" He glared at her in question.

Todd paused. Why did Snape care about Giliana?

"Eh. It's not a big deal, really... just some dumb Slytherins having a power party. I'm sure you know how that might be..." She shrugged, a sly smile spread across her face.

Snape was struggling to keep his cool. He grunted in frustration.

"Just tell me what you know Miss Black, and I will cut your time here short." He insisted, growing very impatient.

"If you insist." Todd gave in. She began to tell him where it was. Todd couldn't help but want him to break up the party. She knew that Giliana didn't fit in with most of the Slytherins, and that wasn't a bad thing at all, it was quite the opposite. All she knew was that this night didn't feel very good... but she didn't have the heart to tell Giliana to not go. It was her choice, after all.

"I got another one!" Draco began. "How many mudbloods does it take to do a charm spell?"

"How many?" Crabbe asked.

"None, dumbass! They _can't_ _do_ magic!" Draco roared. Crabbe, Goyle and the rest of his little crowd laughed.

Giliana suddenly began to fill with hatred. She pushed Draco's arm off her shoulder forcefully. She stood up, looking away.

"What's wrong with you?" He said, still laughing at his seemingly bad joke. He gulped down more of his butterbeer.

"Nothing." She began, sounding very annoyed. "I'm going back to the common room." He eyes narrowed with hatred.

"_Oh-ho-ho!_ Not so fast!" Draco laughed, finishing another carton of butterbeer. "You can't just leave me like this with nothing."

Snape listened to Todd with anticipation in his dark eyes.

"Now tell me, Mr. Malfoy at this party as well, am I correct?" Snape asked, subtly waiting for Todd's answer anxiously.

"Yes... just like most of the Slytherin's." Todd answered, completely confused at Snape's behavior.

"And Miss Lenore...is she there too?" He asked, a little more anxiously.

"Yeah." Todd felt a little guilty.

Snape stopped to think for a moment. There was a look of annoyance on his face.

"Very well then, you're free to go. But don't think that you'll be getting out of any more...shenanigans." Snape hissed at her. Pausing for a second, he then stormed out of the classroom, cloak billowing behind him as if they were an extension of his dark being, before Todd could react.

Draco smiled mischievously at Giliana. He motioned to Crabbe and Goyle to get his firebolt. Giliana started walking away, getting even more annoyed.

"You haven't been a good girlfriend," Draco scolded her mockingly.

Giliana started walking faster, but before she knew it, Draco flew by on his firebolt, scooping her onto the broom in his arm. He flew up just above the trees, and stopped. Giliana had her arms extended by her sides while holding on to the broom with both hands. She could barely sit steadily. Draco turned and looked at her. He smiled mischievously at her.

"You're my girlfriend, and you should start acting like it." He grabbed her by the sides of her face, and kissed her forcefully. Giliana squirmed as she struggled to get out of his kiss. She felt paralyzed. One move and she could fall down to her death. Draco began fondling her. She started pushing him away, and Draco stopped after almost falling off. He flew the broom to a long, thick branch at the top of one of the tallest trees, and dragged Giliana on there with him.

"You're---my---girlfriend---ho!" he insisted, as he struggled to undo her corset. Giliana squirmed as she tried to keep him from untying her corset. She tried climbing along another branch that was higher up, desperate to escape, but Draco lifted her skirt. Giliana screamed, trying to kick his face away from her.

As soon as the Slytherin students noticed Snape coming to end their party, they all ran out of sight, leaving their mess of junk food and cartons of butterbeer scattered everywhere. Snape walked right past the mess, pacing about franticly as if he were looking for something, or someone. He stopped when he came to a small wooded area. He heard some voices echoing from afar...

"LET GO OF ME!" Giliana screamed, as Draco grabbed onto her skirt, exposing part of her undergarments.

Draco pulled her down by her corset, and forced himself on top of her.

He began to kiss her all along her neck, and chest. Giliana screamed even more, trying her hardest to pry him off of her.

Finally, Draco slipped, and fell over, dangling off of the branch. He squealed, and tried to get back up, while Giliana was shouting at him and trying to figure out how to escape while he was holding on for his life.

Snape walked throughout the trees, following the voices. He was hoping it was Giliana's...he wanted to catch her doing something really bad for once, so that he could show Dumbledore just how "good" she was. Then he wouldn't have to...suffer with her presence in the dungeons any longer. The voices got closer and closer, until he was sure they were in one of the trees above him.

Draco suddenly got quiet. He saw Snape walking about just underneath them. He quickly jumped onto another branch, got his firebolt, and flew away, leaving Giliana alone, at last. Giliana slowly and carefully climbed down the trees; her skirt torn, her corset loose and dirty; her hair full of leaves. She collapsed when she hit the ground, and Snape's eyes widened when he turned around and realized she landed right behind him.

Speechless and hurt, Giliana slowly got up when she saw Snape. She didn't say anything.

Snape was satisfied that he could finally find out what she had been up to, knowing he had caught her up to no good for the first time.

He looked delighted for a moment. He had caught her, and only her doing something wrong, all the other Slytherins had fled. He could finally punish her... be free of her.

"Miss Lenore..." He snapped, but when he finally rested his eyes on her, he lost all focus. Snape noticed how her eyes stood out at him; they were screaming with sadness. Frustrated, Snape re-focused with a little difficulty, and continued, "Tell me what in the world were you doing?" He said angrily. He snarled at her. Giliana just looked at the ground. He grabbed her arm, and forcefully led her to his classroom to question her.

The moment they got there, Giliana began to shed a few tears, and collapsed on the nearest desk she could find, and quietly sobbed herself to sleep as soon as she sat down.

In his frustration, Snape walked over and began to pile loads of heavy work for her to do when for when she woke. He paused for a moment and turned to look at her. She was sound asleep. He sighed, and suddenly didn't feel the hatred and annoyance for her any longer. Snape slowly walked over to her.

Giliana looked helpless in her sleep. She never seemed that way before...

He walked over to his desk, sat down and sighed, burying his head in his hands.

Giliana woke up in the potions classroom. She sat up for a moment, wondering how she got there. She looked out of one of the windows. It was still dark outside. She looked over at Snape, sitting at his desk, obsessively grading papers.

Snape looked up at her when he realized she was awake. He grunted and quickly looked back down at the papers he was grading, trying to keep his focus. Giliana suddenly remembered everything that had happened.

She got up, wondering where to go. She didn't feel safe walking back to the common room...Draco. Her eyes began to well up with tears.

Snape looked up, annoyed when he realized she was crying.

"Miss Lenore...don't cry." He said angrily through his teeth.

Giliana crawled into a corner in the room, and sat down in a fetal position, her arms around her legs and knees. She buried her head in her knees, and broke down into tears.

Snape rolled his eyes. He didn't have time for this. He sighed, walked over to Giliana, and stood beside her, as if she was going to stop crying with him just standing there.

He sighed with annoyance, and bent over, and put his hand on her shoulder very gently.

She looked up at him, and began to calm down. For a few moments, she just stared at him, tears slowly coming down her cheeks.

Snape's annoyance had faded slightly. He sighed to himself, got up, and looked away.

"You're up way past curfew." He scolded. "Go back to your common room immediately, before I take 50 points from Slytherin."

Another tear came down Giliana's face.

"I can't..." she walked up to him, and weakly tapped him on the shoulder. "I can't go alone."

Snape sighed, and turned around and looked at her.

"Very well." He was not quiet amused, but grabbed her by the hand, and led her out of the classroom, and into the dungeons.

"Please keep up," he said, forcefully, trying to get there as fast as he could. Giliana held on tightly to his hand as they walked down the dungeons.

They turned a corner, and finally came to the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Immediately, Snape let go of her hand.

"Here we are." He mumbled.

"Albino." Giliana said softly. Her voice was hoarse.

Snape began to turn around to leave. Right as he was about to take his first step, he felt Giliana's arms around him.

'_Ack!_' he thought. His eyes widened. He turned around. Giliana was hugging him the way a little girl would hug a huge plush toy.

"Thank you Professor..." Giliana whispered in her hoarse voice.

For a moment, he just stood there, in Giliana's arms. He then pushed her away, and turned around to look the other direction, the one he was headed.

"Er...You'd better get to bed..." He tried to sound annoyed. He hesitantly began walking back to the potions classroom.

"Goodnight Severus." Giliana called out softly as she stepped inside.

He stopped, alarmed at her calling by his first name. He looked back, as if to say something, and was disappointed when he realized she had already gone inside.

He shook his head, and began to walk back to his quarters. It had been a strange night. Too strange for his liking. But somehow, he didn't mind all that much.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Giliana walked down the halls with a fast pace, trying so hard to avoid all the eyes that were on her, trying her hardest to ignore all whispers coming from students who were passing by. Her face remained the same; her blank expression, slightly showing anger. All day she had heard rumors being passed around from student to student, lies about what had happened the previous night. Her last class had just ended, and she was wandering around aimlessly, knowing she would not find comfort in the Slytherin common room. She thought about going to the potions room...try to keep herself occupied...and Snape was there. Her only sense of security at that moment in time. She turned around and headed towards the dungeons, her head slightly down, her eyes focused only straight ahead of her. About to turn to the stairs leading to the dungeons, she tripped on someone's foot.

"Well if it isn't the famous Giliana Lenore." Pansy Parkinson said with sarcasm. Giliana quickly got up, and looked at Pansy. Her arms were crossed, and she looked at Giliana with much displeasure. Pansy was standing with two other Slytherin girls; one attractive blonde with short hair, and another with long dirty blonde hair.

"You'd better watch your step next time Giliana, there will be no one to catch you, especially now that Draco dumped you." She said, smirking, the other two girls giving off evil glares at Giliana.

Giliana slowly stood up, brushing the dust and dirt of her skirt off with her hands. "We were never dating each other, Pansy." She said, as calmly and as casually as she could.

"You're just saying that because you're angry at him for dumping you, after you threw yourself on top of him last night." She shook her head in disgust. "Well you just need to accept the fact that Draco doesn't care for _you_, anymore. _Or your type_." Pansy's eyes were on Giliana as she gave her a cold, nasty glare.

Todd passed through a group of giggling girls. Many rumors were floating around the school about the events at the infamous Slytherin party. Some said that Giliana had sex with Draco, and then he dumped her... some said that she flung herself on him, and he refused, and dumped her... but the rumor she believed the most was the least popular one: that Draco tried to rape Giliana last night. One girl was talking loudly about how pathetic Giliana was for thinking she could have a chance with Draco. Todd only continued to walk, bumping into her and continuing to walk quickly. The girl yelled out in protest, but Todd was too far gone to care. She had heard a girl say that Giliana went into the dungeons, so that's where Todd was headed. Her classes had ended earlier than most people's today. She was taking less classes this year, and it just so happened that she had 2 free blocks at the end of the day today. So, she had changed into her casual wear. She wore a short black skirt, her black combat boots, and a white wife beater. Many necklaces jingled from her neck. She stepped down the stairs, her boots clunking loudly on the hard ground. Her hair was messy as usual, her eyes tired, but alive with frustration. Seeing her target, she walked to Giliana, gently grabbed her arm, gave an obviously fake smile at Pansy and took Giliana back up the stairs, not saying a single word. She dragged her along, not letting her protest.

"Let---go--of--me..." Giliana said, looking around in confusion and trying to free herself from Todd's grasp.

"No, no...None of that." Up until now, she seemed strict, but she looked back at Giliana and flashed her a calm smile. "Don't worry. We're going far away from these little GOSSIPING GIGGLING JACKASSES." She spoke the insult loudly at a group of staring girls, and took Todd up another flight of stairs into a seemingly abandoned hallway. "Ah... should be around here..." She talked to herself, and let Giliana go. "Wait there." Todd walked three times passed a certain spot on the wall, closing her eyes and thinking very hard. She then opened her eyes and smiled as she saw a door appear. Walking up to it, she opened the door. Looking over at Giliana, she paused. "You coming?"

"Where does that go to?" She glared at Todd, in question. Giliana just wanted to be alone. Alone, or in the potions room, the only place where she felt she was safe...

"We can't talk about it out here...come on." Seeing the annoyance in Giliana's eyes, Todd paused and looked at her with a sincere half smile. "_Trust_ me."

Todd smiled slightly, looking around at a small, but very cozy room. It had a fireplace, dark blue extremely squishy couches and chairs, a box of chocolate, and a very old flaccid teddy bare with only one button eye. Todd eyed the bear for a moment before looking back at Giliana. "Shut the door?"

Giliana's eyes froze on the teddy bear. Suddenly, all her focus was on that bear. She ignored what Todd had asked, and walked up to the couch where the teddy bear lay, as if she was in a trance.

She picked up the bear, held it in her hands, studying it carefully; a glazed look on her face.

Todd smirked and shut the door herself, turning a key in it, in case anyone felt like using the room today. She watched Giliana before walking towards her, raising an eyebrow. "Something that used to comfort you?" She spoke quietly, trying not to disturb Giliana.

Her fingers moved all over the bear, as she studied its stitching and its shape. Her thumb ran across the one-button eye over and over, and she froze yet again.

"How did you get this bear..."

"I didn't." She plopped down on the couch, examining the chocolate box. "This is the room of requirement... Remus showed it to me. I used to come in here to... well, think." She smiled a little, seeing the familiar kinds of chocolate. His favorite. "Pretty much, whatever you want will exist in this room for you, excluding living things, of course... what I wanted to be in here was a comfortable place for both of us, something to help you out...A place for you to escape. And I guess that bear is really comforting to you?" She put the chocolate box down. "It's adorable, really." Todd looked up at her with huge eyes and a calm smile.

"It was a gift from my father for my birthday...I lost it in a fire." Giliana sat down on the couch, holding the bear in her lap. "That bear is all that's left of the world I grew up in..." Her eyes turned to the fireplace, the glazed look remained upon her face.

Todd watched her with curiosity, not sure if saying anything would be helping. She took a hand and placed it on Giliana's shoulder.

"Hey. How are you holding up?" A look of concern flooded Todd's normal sly and cheerful expression.

Giliana quickly shook off her trance-like focus, and turned to look at Todd.

"I've been in worse situations than this," she assured Todd, and looked back at the fireplace so she wouldn't have to make eye contact with her. Giliana was feeling so horrible, she didn't know what to make of herself.

She hugged the flaccid teddy bear tight, biting her lip.

Todd bit her lip, wanting to help, but she didn't want to crowd Giliana.

"..I'm familiar with rumors in this school... quite a few of them are about me." She let out a small and quiet laugh. "But there are truths behind certain rumors. And...Well...if you want to talk..." Todd looked down, her short red hair hid her eyes.

"I didn't have sex with that asswipe." Giliana said suddenly, a dark, mean glare was on her face, as she looked at the fireplace.

"I know. I know what happened." Todd didn't look up. "I think much better of you than that. You know that, right?" She finally raised her head and looked at her.

Giliana turned, and looked at Todd. "How do you know what happened?"

"Well, there are some trustworthy Slytherin girls, believe it or not." Todd frowned. "And I know Draco much more than one might think." Todd shrugged, feeling very guilty for some reason all of a sudden. "I guess I put the pieces together. And I knew that the Room of Requirement seemed like exactly what you'd need...to be alone, you know?

"Yeah..." Giliana's thoughts trailed off. Todd knew perfectly well what happened. But what about Snape? Did he too, think like the others that the rumors were true? No. He had helped her, and Giliana was grateful. But Draco could have everyone convinced...

Giliana looked back at Todd. "After Draco finally left me, Snape found me."

Todd's eyes widened a little.

"Yeah? He seemed pretty set on finding you...what did he do?"

Giliana paused for a moment to think. "He took me back to the potions room...I guess to question me on what had happened...but I fell asleep." Her eyes were on the fireplace again.

Todd looked slightly puzzled. Was there something going on between them? "Did he... you know, go all sour and take away points?" Todd shifted her position so that she was sitting on her knees.

Giliana's blank expression changed to a confused one for a moment. "No...Wait...now that I think of it, at some point he threatened to take away points...but he never did."

Todd blinked.

"Wow. Either he's so stupid he forgot... or he really isn't as sour as he comes off to be." Todd reached to the small table to the side of the couch and picked up the box of chocolates. "Here.. Have some chocolate, it'll make you feel better." Todd handed Giliana a piece before popping one into her mouth.

Giliana slowly chewed on the chocolate, and swallowed it. She smiled slightly at Todd.

"No, he really isn't as sour as he lets people think." She hugged her bear.

"Yeah... but he still has no excuse to be such a git sometimes." Todd smirked a little bit. "He kept asking about you during my detention... in fact, he even let me go early when I told him where the party was." Todd raised an eyebrow at her.

Giliana's eyes widened, as she looked at the fireplace. Her expression softened, and she looked at Todd.

"If he let you go early than he really isn't a git," she said, smiling.

"Hah. Yeah he is." Todd laughed a little.

Giliana let out a small laugh, and then suddenly stopped. She looked at Todd again.

"He was asking about me?" Giliana looked very puzzled.

"Yep." Todd raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Any reason why he'd be so curious about you?" She teased, biting her lip.

Giliana quickly turned her head to look back at the fireplace.

"No, not at all." She said, a bit awkwardly.

"Mmmhm." She smiled, unbelieving. "Hey, it's getting kind of late... the feast is on. Want me to go grab us some plates? I'm sure you don't wanna face the zombie masses."

"That would be quite nice." Giliana smiled, uneasy. Her train of thought trailed back to the previous night.

"He was a bit sour, as always last night." She paused. "But after I woke up, I was a bit emotional...and he didn't do anything to me. Infact, he was nice enough to take me back to the common room..." She stopped, and looked back and Todd. "Yeah...I'd feel better eating here." She looked down at the flaccid bear.

Todd studied her for a little bit, pausing for a moment before standing. "Okay." She walked to the door and opened it. "I'll be right back." She shut the door quietly and proceeded to walk down the halls and stairs towards the great hall.

Todd got down to the bottom floor and realized she wasn't in her uniform. The feast was pretty formal...She felt sort of uncomfortable, she didn't want to offend the staff members. Her boots clicked loudly on the floor, she saw Filch's cat watching students pile into the doors. Todd stood against a wall, puzzling the situation.

Damien was on his way to the great hall, when he spotted Todd. His deep blue eyes lit up in happiness, and he walked over.

"Good evening Todd." He smiled, perfect his teeth shimmering.

Todd jumped a little, looking up at Damien as he approached. "Ah... Damien. Hello." She smiled a little. "What's happening?"

"Oh not much. I just got back from taking a walk outside. I _love_ taking walks in the moonlight," he smiled at her, "Anyway, How are you doing?"

"I'm alright. Not really too keen on walking all the way back to the dorms to get my robes..." She looked at the great hall. "Was just going to grab some plates for dinner and head back up."

"Oh don't worry about those robes. You look _very_ nice, no one will care." he said cheerfully. "Besides, those robes don't do you justice." He Smiled, and thought for a moment. His eyes suddenly lit up again. "How about you come and eat with me?" He offered his arm. "We can talk about foxes, and that way you don't have to eat dinner alone tonight." He smiled sweetly at her.

"Ah.." She smiled, blushing a little, surprised as to how much he was hitting on her, but she appreciated his kindness all the same. "I would, but I have a friend waiting upstairs. We're eating together... maybe another time?"

He looked slightly disappointed, but kept smiling. "That's perfectly alright. Another time is fine." he said, cheerfully. "Would you like to discuss another time to meet, or chance it?" He asked politely.

"Aren't surprises always more exciting?" She smirked mischievously, the sly look once again in her eyes. Todd stepped forward from the wall a little bit.

He looked into her eyes. "Yes, they are. Indeed, I always like to let fate handle things sometimes..." He walked a little closer, as if about to kiss her, but backed up, and blushed slightly.

"Forgive me, it seems I'm a little head rushed today." He smiled, his hands behind his back. "I'll let you go now, Todd. It was nice seeing you again. Have fun with your friend." He said happily. "I expect we'll meet again soon." He smiled, nodded at her in respect, turned around and walked down to the great hall.

Todd's face turned bright red when he walked away. _Wait._ _He was going to kiss me? What?_ Todd stared into nothingness for a long while before shaking it off. _Dinner. Dinner. Dinner. Right..._e began to walk into the great hall, taking a deep breath before entering. She made her way to an empty part of the Ravenclaw table and started filling up two plates full of the food, trying not to look up at people who were noticing her outfit.

Todd looked up at the staff table, hoping the staff hadn't noticed her out of uniform. She saw Snape poking at something on his plate... and frantically searching the Slytherin table every few seconds. Todd watched him for a moment before he felt eyes upon him and glanced her way, she quickly focused back onto the plates. She then heard him get up, saw him walk past her, and out of the great hall, looking very upset about something. Todd raised an eyebrow, finishing with the plates, about to pick them up. He must really be disturbed about something... She thought, biting her lip slightly.

"Excuse me." Came a very annoyed voice from behind

Todd jumped a little, dropping a fork. "Ah...yeah?" She turned and looked at the Ravenclaw prefect, nervous for a moment, but then put a hand on her hip and shifted her weight to one side. She felt like being difficult.

The prefect cleared her throat. "What do you think you're doing here out of your robes? Go to the girl's dorm and change into them at once! Do you I am going to put up with something like this that could lose us house points? Either go and change, leave, or I'm going to have to report you." She said, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Oh?" Todd laughed a little. "Yes, maa'm, right away!" She gave a little sarcastic bow, picking up the two plates and walking past her, her boots clunking in a fast rhythm. A satisfied look on her face. She left the great hall and climbed the stairs to the abandoned hallway, stopping at the Room of Requirement after walking by three times. Doing a nifty trick of putting on plate on her head, sticking her tongue out in a sort of concentration habit, she opened the door, quickly grabbing the plate and walking in. She kicked the door shut.

"Ey." She smiled over at Giliana.

Giliana looked up at Todd from her seat by the fireplace.

"You're back." She smiled.

Todd walked over and put the plates on the dark coffee table in front of them, the food steaming, it's smells filled the cool air.

"That I am." Todd pulled out two forks that were sticking out of her boots, handing one to Giliana.

"Took you a while just to get food and come back. Anything interesting happen while you were out?" Giliana said as she grabbed the plate, and began to poke at her food.

Todd kneeled on the floor, pulling the plate to her and stuffing some mashed potatoes in her mouth and swallowing before looking back up at Giliana.

"Hah. Just a little bit," She told Giliana about Damian and the Prefect.

Giliana and Todd stayed the night in the Room of Requirement, their newly-found comfortable hangout spot. There wasn't much talking, but there was a sort of common understanding between them, something that hadn't been there before. It seemed as if they were growing as friends, a little more at a time.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Time passed quickly. Crisp fall turned into a cold winter, everything orange and vibrant turned into a white serene. As the months passed, nothing was quite out of the ordinary. The rumors of Giliana and Draco died down to the point where it never happened at all. Of course, Draco and Pansy still tried to get it up and running once more, but it was now old news. Snape continued to be his normal, moody self. He seemed more quiet these days, even in class. Todd continued to get in trouble, however, although she didn't seem to mind much at all. She seemed to find it as a sort of a game. She never was afraid to speak her mind, even if it got her twenty detentions. In her opinion, she didn't have anything better to do anyway. Giliana continued to be Snape's aid, she kept to herself mostly, as usual, although she sometimes smiled mysteriously while sitting at her teacher's aid desk. There was something she was keeping from everyone, and only the observant noticed. Lupin hadn't visited Hogwarts in a long while, he was busy with his work at the Order of the Phoenix. Life was very busy for those in the order. Dumbledore wasn't even around too often any longer.

The week before Christmas break went slowly. Very slowly. But as Todd and Giliana sat in potions class, the last block of the day, on that meaningful Friday evening... the one that would mark the beginning of their much longed-for break. The break wasn't only from schooling, but from the people they were surrounded with. Snape even seemed in higher spirits, although that didn't always mean much for Snape. He usually took his happy moods as a chance to pick on the students he seemed to dislike... even more.

"Turn your books to page 273." Snape glared at the class, stopping in front of Harry Potter, he glared down at Harry. "5 points from Gryffindor for continuing to chatter..." Snape slowly turned his gaze to Hermione, who was pink and sitting next to Harry. "After I specifically said... NO TALKING." Snape flipped open Harry's book with a satisfied smirk. "Page 273, Mr. Potter." Snape continued to walk along the rows, finding any excuse to take points. Harry let out a groan and flipped through the pages, mumbling something about greasy hair under his breath.

Giliana waited anxiously for class to be over. She couldn't wait for the Christmas holidays. Even though rumors had died down about her, there was no doubt students still had their own opinions about her because of it. She really wanted to get away from them, and was looking forward to spending her Christmas with Todd in the room of comforts. But besides that, she was slightly disappointed that this was her last class with potions before the holidays. She was sure she wouldn't have any reason to come back to the potions room during the holidays, and it disappointed her a little, not having a place to come to besides the room of comforts, where she felt secure.

Todd was twirling her quill in her right hand as she flipped the pages of her large textbook idly with her left, she only glanced through the pages that Snape told them to read. Her mind was on Christmas break, not anywhere near babbling beverages that the class was studying. She glanced up at Giliana, and at Snape, who was writing something on the board. She stared at a few words in the book.

"...to make the victim spout endless nonsense and.." She kept reading the passage over and over...time was crawling.

Giliana kept herself occupied throughout class with some files she had to sort for Snape. As she sorted them, she realized something felt a little different. There was something different in that class. She sensed tension. She didn't know why...it was something that wasn't very strong until then. She began to think back to the night of the party. _ Why had Snape gone to crash the party?_ He probably didn't even know what had happened...Draco got away so easily. It left Giliana looking like a fool. All this thinking that Giliana had normally pushed to the back of her mind for the past weeks had begun to make her feel sick. She tried to shake it out of her, which took the remainder of class. Before she knew it, time was up. Class was finally over. The Christmas Holidays had finally begun.

Todd stood up and grinned, stretching her arms out above her before quickly picking up her stuff and walking to Giliana. "God...that was a slow block, eh?"

Snape looked up from his paperwork to watch them.

Todd turned her neck to the side, cracking it, she let out a satisfied sigh. "I guess I'll see you...well, you know, tonight." She didn't want to say anything about the room in case of overhearing it. Todd bit her lip as she saw Snape's eyes on her. He probably wanted her to get the hell out of there. "Later." She smiled slightly at Giliana before walking out of the potions classroom, the door squeaking behind her and then clunking shut. All was silent for a moment in the classroom.

After a moment, Snape moved from his desk to where Giliana was sitting. He looked at her, a look of slight annoyance on his face. "No need to finish that.. it's break, you should be out... ... doing silly frolicking, or causing trouble somewhere, or whatever you juveniles do at times like these." Snape sneered, and seemed to be making fun of her.

"Uh..." Giliana was a bit surprised at his behavior. There was much to do before the break. Things needed to be put away, cauldrons cleaned, desks cleaned, the floor cleaned, things organized...

"I'd rather not be out, when there is a lot for me to do here already, Professor." Giliana said, in a formal tone as she set the filed papers down on her desk in a neat pile. Her hands were shaking a little bit.

"No. I'd rather do the rest myself. Don't want you _screwing it up_..." Snape bit off every word sharply, as if to make a point. He turned away from her, his voice was dripping with a sort of annoyance and teasing that was less than sincere. He seemed to be a little off, his attitude didn't seem quite as hostel as normal. His voice was the only thing that seemed to belong to him at the moment, everything else was...off.

Giliana's eyes widened, as she felt her stomach drop. _**Screwing** it up? _She felt insulted. Had Snape actually believed one of Draco and Pansy's lies? _Of course._ Something inside Giliana felt like it was dying, yet she felt much confusion and anger. She froze at her desk, and began to pack her things instantly.

"Alright then. If I only _screw_ _things up_, I guess I have _nothing_ to do here. Since I'm so good at screwing things up, I guess I'll just go _screw around_ some more. Hell, maybe I'll find something else to do--" She almost collapsed in anger when she realized a few tears were coming down again. Accidentally knocking all the files she had just sorted on her desk, she grabbed her back, making her way toward the door, trying so hard to hide all the tears that had just slipped, looking down and letting her hair get in her face.

Snape kept his back turned to her. Silent for a moment.

"...Don't..." He spoke sternly, his fist clenching at his side. He took a long moment to find the words to say. He wasn't used to talking, or expressing any sort of inner thoughts. "I... I didn't mean it in that way." He kept his back turned. His voice softer now, no trace of annoyance, only frustration with himself.

Giliana stopped, and turned around to look at him. Her frown softened, as she impatiently waited for him to continue. She was very confused with his behavior, her head was aching with pain and her eyes burned from getting upset.

Snape glared at the wall, as if the wall was making him feel like this. A crack started forming in the brick he was staring at, but he turned his head away in time. He couldn't let his anger control his magic.

"You don't screw anything up. You never have." His voice was deep and struggling. He hated being honest sometimes. Especially when it hurt so much.

Giliana stood there, surprised, and confused. She couldn't move. She just stood there, staring at him, in shock, and didn't say anything.

He stopped, letting the silence slowly drive him crazy, his fist clenched even tighter. Suddenly, his head turned to the side, and he yelled. Hatred poured out with every syllable.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE?" He looked back at the ground. "Why don't you just say something? Do I have to... Why do I even care...?" He sighed, unclenching his fist and putting his hand on his head.

She backed up a few steps, and stood there, terrified. She opened her mouth, finally built enough courage to speak.

"Professor..." She slowly walked a few steps towards him, but still keeping her distance.

Snape commanded, "No. Don't say anything." He almost was whispering now. His voice slightly raspy. He stood there for a moment, as if deciding, although his next action was completely without thought of consequence. In a flash of black fabric, he seemed to have rushed across the dark room in a blink of an eye. He grabbed Giliana by her shoulders and pushed her against the cold stone wall, his face only inches from hers. He looked, still, at the ground, his hair in his eyes.

"I thought I hated you. But the truth is." Snape lifted his head slightly, still not making eye contact. "I can't **stand it** when you're not around."

Giliana's eyes were welling up with tears. She was completely terrified. She was breathing fast, and heavily, and could feel her heart beating extremely fast. Her eyes looked around in different directions, almost feeling pierced when they met with his.

He paused, his hands shook.

"I hate you for it. I hate you _so much_ for it." He shook her once with his strong hands, before finally making eye contact with her. He looked away quickly one last time before glaring into her eyes. He embraced her in a forced kiss, rough at first, but began to slow down, as was his grip on her shoulders.

Giliana's eyes widened as he forced her into the kiss, but eventually closed as a tear came down her right eye. It frightened her at first, but she didn't resist. She felt completely paralyzed. Somehow it felt right. She could feel her heart racing against his, as she lost herself in the kiss. Snape pulled back, letting out a breath that seemed to have been held for a very long time. He looked away again... avoiding...

Giliana pulled his face towards her, so that their eyes met. She looked at him, as if to ask him why he was avoiding her. She pulled him closer and kissed him, slowly at first, but quickly turned into a passionate kiss. Snape pulled her closer, moving his hands slowly and gently down her back, and rested on her hips. He held her tight, the kiss becoming more passionate with every second. He couldn't help it. This wasn't going to slow down. And he didn't mind one bit. Giliana's right hand stayed on the side of his face, while her other slid down to his chest, lost in the passionate kiss. Her heart was racing so fast; she felt she no longer had control of her body.

"Great." Todd had forgotten her wallet. She had taken it out due to pure boredom during class, and she had left it on the table. Todd made her way back down to the dungeons, frustrated. She hated having to walk all over the place, over and over again. It was all old news.

Snape grinned slightly in the kiss, a mischievous grin. His hand slid up from her waist and under her shirt, moving up to her chest. He continued the kiss, it being harder and faster than ever...There were no signs of stopping...

The door creaked slightly as Todd reached it. She began to touch the door with her fingertips, about to push it open...

Giliana's eyes widened as she heard someone near the door. She suddenly came back to earth, as she pushed Snape away, right as Todd opened the door.

Her hair was messy, her skirt slightly up, her shirt a bit wrinkled. She quickly pulled her skirt down, straightened her hair, and looked the opposite direction, biting her lip.

Snape pulled back at exactly the right moment as well.

"Ahh-h!...And have those papers...into me by...Sunday." He cleared his throat turning away from the door, to hide, well...differences. He turned his head to glare at Todd. "What do YOU want?" He hated Todd so much now, and it clearly burned in his eyes.

Giliana tried to breathe normally again, before speaking.

"Yeah...those papers.." She turned around and pretended to finally notice Todd. "Hey, why are you here?"

Todd blinked. "Er...getting my wallet." She was very surprised at the hatred in his eyes...it was usually pretty strong, but this.. She looked at Giliana, raising an eyebrow, before she slowly made her way to her seat, picking up a brown wallet.

"Are you all done here?" She looked at Giliana, disturbed by the thick tension in the air, making her way back towards the door.

Giliana's stomach sunk lower than ever.

"Uh...no..." She began to panic inside. "Uhh...we were cleaning these cauldrons out, and we're not finished. It's actually a lot of work..." She looked at Snape, hoping he would help her out.

"Right. It's...annoying...how students don't...uh..." He couldn't find his normal swagger. He couldn't get back into his sarcasm mode. He was panicking. "Damn... kids." He nodded at Giliana.

Todd smirked a little, amused at whatever the hell was happening with Snape.

"Well, alright. Scrub those cauldrons. You know where to find me, Giliana." She gave one last suspicious look at Snape before waving at Giliana and leaving, shutting the door behind her. She paused outside the door for a moment, really confused and offset before she walked up the stairs. _Were they...? Haha, nah._

Snape sighed and paced a few times back and forth before standing still. What now?

Giliana looked at him. She couldn't believe what had just happened.

"...I should probably go now..." Giliana said, walking over to her desk and bending over to pick up her messenger bag and the papers that fell on the floor. She felt completely embarrassed. She didn't know what came over her.

"Right...okay..." His eyes shifted from where she was standing, to the floor, to the door a few times. Then he turned and walked to his desk, looking out a fake window.

After Giliana straightened up her desk, she gathered her things. She looked back at Snape before heading out the door. She walked towards him, cautiously.

"If you don't mind, I could come tomorrow and help you clean up the room a bit..." She said in a more formal tone.

He turned to face her.

"I _wouldn't_ mind." He watched her with curiosity.

"Have a good evening, Professor." Giliana said respectfully, as she walked toward the door.

"I don't think titles like that are of much use any longer," He glared at her. "...wouldn't you say, Giliana?" He crossed his arms.

She stopped where she was. She looked back at him, and nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow, _Severus_." She smiled.

Snape smirked.

"Indeed." His eyes seemed ignited with something that hadn't been there before. Hope.

He watched as Giliana left the room, never took his eyes off of her until she was gone.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 – Hogsmeade on Christmas Eve**

Todd was still slightly disturbed and confused about the other night in the Potions classroom. What had been going on? Why had Snape been so... strange? Well, stranger than usual. A couple of days passed, and Christmas was getting closer and closer. Giliana had gone to help Snape last night for a few hours, but she wasn't sure why they'd take that long. In her mind, she had a strong feeling as to what was going on, but every time she thought of it, she felt very strange, like someone was pouring ice down her back. So, she didn't let herself think about that. They couldn't be involved, could they? She tried so hard to make up logical explanations. But deep down, she thought it was a little bit cute... if it was true, that is. They did seem perfect for each other.

It was the morning of the 23rd of December. To Todd at least. It was almost 3:00 p.m. Todd liked to stay up all night, if in her fox form, or not. Yawning, she slipped into some grey sweatpants, slippers and a black and white Rancid T-shirt, making her way down the girl's dorms and out of the Ravenclaw common room. It was completely empty. Most students had families to go to. And maybe, Todd thought, she'd finally be reunited with hers this winter. She smiled at the thought of seeing Sirius again. Lupin would be arriving tonight. Todd climbed down the stairs from the Ravenclaw tower and towards the dungeons, searching for Giliana. She mumbled out loud to herself. "Geeze, we should really get a way of communicating with each other." She put a hand in her already messy red hair and scratched her head, making it more wild. It looked like fire.

Giliana quietly walked down the dungeons alone. It had been a good Christmas Holiday so far. She felt a way she hadn't felt in years...She felt whole again.

As she continued walking, she realized she was a whole hour behind the time she told Todd she would be back. Feeling guilty, she sprinted her way back to the comfort room, where she and Todd had been spending their whole holiday at with no one bothering them.

She walked in through the secret entrance, noticing no one was there.

She walked over and collapsed on one of the couches by the fireplace.

There was a small Christmas tree in the corner of the room, on the opposite side of where the door was. It appeared to have been recently put up, with little decorations. This was where Giliana wanted to spend her Christmas.

Todd gave up after looking around, and was about to head back up the stairs. She walked quickly, the dungeons being cold; she crossed her arms and shivered, watching the ground. Suddenly, she was pushed out of her line of walking. Looking up, she was surprised.

Snape bumped into Todd, he too was staring at the ground, and walking at his normal hurried pace. "Do..." Snape sneered, brushing off his robes. "Watch where you are going." He glared at her. As if she was up to no good.

"Ah...sorry, I guess it was my entire fault that you bumped into me." She rolled her eyes and quickly hurried up the stairs, not hearing Snape move or respond behind her. She was bored. Where was Giliana? Heh, she had one more guess.

Snape growled, his face filled with annoyance. Even she reminds me of her...

Todd climbed the stairs in a hurry, finding the room of requirement after walking past three times... and entered, slightly out of breath. "Ah...hah.." She looked at Giliana with narrowed grey eyes. "THERE you are." She smirked, slowly slipping inside the room and closing it almost silently.

"Hey, where have you been?" Giliana asked, looking up at Todd, smiling.

"Looking for you." She rubbed her arms and moved towards the couch, feeling the warmth on her skin. She looked at the tree. "Like?" Todd had imagined it the other night, thus adding it to the room. She still didn't know what to get Giliana for Christmas... or Lupin, for that matter. She was an embarrassed sort of gift giver...

Yeah, the tree is beautiful. You have a wonderful imagination," Giliana said, smiling.

She sat on the couch, a little dazed, and lost in thought, staring into the fireplace.

"Thank you." Todd smiled, kicking off her slippers and walking around the room, examining things in it. "Soo... I bumped into.. Snape." She quickly turned her head to Giliana, hoping to catch something on her face that could tell her something. "Quite literally, actually..."

Giliana blushed slightly at the thought of Snape.

"Oh, you did...?" She smiled slightly, still staring into the fireplace.

"Yep." Todd smiled a little, seeing the color appear in Giliana's cheeks. She stopped at the tree, the multicolored lights illuminating her in the dark. "You ever gonna tell a girl what's going on?" She grinned.

Giliana turned and looked at her with a slight smile, her cheeks slightly pink.

"What do you mean?"

"The way you blush when I mention him, his strange attitude..." She laughed a little. "I have noticed." Todd leaned against the wall next to the tree, that was in the corner, sparkling.

"There isn't anything going on between us...not really." She looked back at the fireplace. "Well...I enjoy his company..."

Todd clicked her tongue. "Is that really all? Cause..." She didn't want to pry, but she wanted to know once and for all.

"Cause...what...?" Giliana asked, looking into the fireplace.

"I'd really like to know." She shrugged, half smiling. "I think it's cute, you know. You two seem to.. I don't know...fit."

Giliana smiled, blushing.

"I don't know what it is about him...you would think he's just a sour git, but..." she sighed, "deep down, he's really more than that..." she smiled, losing herself in thought.

"Yeah. I knew it." She smirked. "Most people aren't how they seem... I guess Lupin has the right idea, eh?"

"Yes. Most people just misjudge him. I hate when people judge others without getting to know them first." She smiled, "Your Lupin sounds like a smart man."

"Ah, he's a smart cookie." Todd blushed a little, looking down. She paused, then remembered. "Speaking of which...want to go to Hogsmeade tonight? There's a caravan of a few coaches heading down there tonight for the few still here. We could shop for our...well, men." Todd bit her lip. "If you want."

Giliana laughed a little.

"Sounds like a good idea." She smiled at her. "I've got a nice supply of galleons in my money bag here..." She walked over towards the door where her messenger bag lay, and pulled out a small black money bag.

"Right on." Todd pushed away from the wall. "Lupin's supposed to arrive sometime today..." She looked down at her clothes, and could only imagine what she looked like all together. "Hah...maybe I should go change...wanna come? I'm sure the empty Ravenclaw common room wouldn't mind if a Slytherin found her way in."

"Sure."

"Alright." Todd smirked, walked to the door, slipped on her slippers and opened it.

Giliana followed, she was happy she wasn't going to the Slytherin common room instead.

They walked all the way up the long staircase in the Ravenclaw tower, nearing the top. Todd walked up to a portrait of a Victorian dressed lady in blue, and stopped. "Ah...uh... hold on." She paused, thinking. "Bumblebee." The portrait swung open. "And welcome to Ravenclaw tower!" She walked in. The common room was decorated in silver and blue, many bookcases filled with random books filled the room, along with tables and comfortable looking blue chairs. It was sort of like a library.

"It's pretty." Giliana stated, while looking around enviously.

"It's not too bad." She shrugged, walking to the spiraling staircase on the left and beginning to climb it. "You can come up, or you can hang out down here. There are some really interesting muggle books in some of those bookcases. I won't be long." Todd stated casually, before climbing all the way to the girl's dorm, coming to her door that she shared with three other girls and walking in.

Giliana found an old chair and sat down.

Christmas Eve is tomorrow, she thought, what could I get for Todd? The answer to that one was pretty simple. Giliana already had something in mind. But...Severus...She knew she had to get something for him. But what?

Todd walked over to a mirror on the wall and laughed at her reflection. She looked like a bum.. but somehow she didn't mind. Kneeling next to her bed, she pulled out a trunk and got out a pair of black tight pinstripe pants, a red vintage-looking Weird Sister's shirt, and red skating-styled shoes. In a short moment, she was dressed. Walking back to the mirror, she ran her hands through her bright red hair, making it look more tamed, but still messy. Grabbing her dark blue extremely worn looking messenger bag, Todd poured out all the school stuff, and poured in random gold and silver coins, along with her wand.

Todd came down the stairs with high energy. She jumped off of the bottom step and grinned. "Ah." Slinging her messenger bag over her shoulder, she watched Giliana. Her grey eyes sparkled with a sort of electricity. "I'm gonna go down and see if he's here yet... wanna come?"

"No thanks. You go ahead. I'll just wait here. I'm content sitting here." Giliana smiled. She wanted Todd to have her own time with Lupin.

Todd raised an eyebrow. "Sure?" She started to walk to the portrait hole.

"I'll be fine, you go on and enjoy yourself." She smiled.

"Alright. I'll catch up with you later tonight, then?" She smiled back, opening the door.

"Tonight." Giliana smiled, and waved.

Todd shut the door behind her, climbing down the stairs and into the corridors of the large school. She saw a random student every once and a while, but it was so empty. Reaching the main hall, finally, she saw Dumbledore talking to a familiar face. Remus. She automatically smiled. Some other older female was with them. She shook Dumbledore's hand and walked back outside. Todd just stood there, deciding to lean up against the wall. Dumbledore and Lupin turned and started walking towards her, it took a moment for Lupin to notice her, although Dumbledore had his eyes on her from the moment he turned. As they approached her, Dumbledore nodded at Todd, his eyes sparkling with mystery through his half-moon spectacles.

"Miss Black."

"Headmaster." Todd replied.

"I must be off." Dumbledore spoke. "There is so little to do, and so much time." Dumbledore winked and looked at them both before turning and disappearing behind a corner.

Lupin looked down at Todd, smiling a little. "It's been a while."

Todd noticed how tired he looked. His clothes were slightly dressy and ragged as usual. "Yes, it has."

Lupin held out an arm, Todd linked hers with his, grinned, and they started to roam the hallways, with small talk.

"So...do you think, maybe.. I can visit the headquarters and see him sometime?" Todd asked, so anxious for the answer she wanted to hear.

Damien was walking down the hallways, when he noticed Todd.

"Good afternoon Todd." He nodded, and smiled at her with his charming smile.

"I didn't expect to see you around the school during the Christmas Holidays. How have you been doing?" He smiled charmingly.

Todd was surprised a little, and blushed automatically. Woah, this was a weird situation. "Hey Damien." She smiled a little. "I'm very well, and yourself?"

"I'm doing quite lovely, thanks. I just came out from enjoying the snow," he said cheerfully, "The weather is simply beautiful right now." He looked over at Lupin.

"Oh, is this your father?" He smiled politely.

He let out his hand for Lupin to shake.

Todd froze. "Uh..." She felt like she had something caught in her throat.

Lupin did the same. He then broke the silence by chuckling. "Oh, no, just a friend..." He gave Damien a polite smile back, annoyance hidden completely. He reached out and gave Damien a firm handshake, looking him over. He couldn't help it.. he was a little, well.. jealous.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Please Forgive me," he felt a little embarrassed, "But I figured you were her father since it's the Christmas Holidays and all." He smiled, remaining cheerful. "I'm Damien Goodnight," he smiled at Lupin, "And may I inquire your name?"

"Remus Lupin." He glanced over at Todd, who was staring at the ground, with very pink cheeks. "Nice to meet you, Damien." He was struggling to keep his cool.

"Oh that's right!" Damien's eyes lit up. "You were a teacher here my 5th year. Defense against the dark arts. You probably don't remember me." He sighed. "It's a shame you had to leave...we've been most unfortunate with our newer defense against the dark arts teachers ever since you've left." He smiled again, "It's awfully nice to see you again. Any friend of Todd's is a friend of mine!" He said happily.

"You look familiar." Lupin said simply. "I'm flattered." He smiled slightly, nodding his head.

Todd looked up, not feeling that the conversation was as icy as it used to be... She found it strange that Damien didn't seem to back off because of what Lupin was. Most people did when he announced who he was.

"Oh Todd, now that I think of it, there's something I wanted to ask you." He looked over at Todd, cheerfully. "I am going to be hosting a new year's celebration. It's Shakespearean themed, and I am going to be reciting Shakespearean sonnets. It will be held outside on the school grounds of course, and you're welcome to come. You may bring a friend if you want." He smiled at her. "There will be music, refreshments, and games, and hopefully we'll be able to have our much desired discussion on foxes."

Lupin looked blank. Foxes? What did he know? Lupin looked away from them.

Todd smiled after a moment. "I adore Shakespeare!" She read his works often. "Of course. Count me in." She watched him with curiosity, grey eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Wonderful! I really look forward to seeing you there" He smiled, slightly blushing. "Anyway, I better be going. I'll see you later Todd." He smiled sweetly at her. "Mr. Lupin, glad to see you again." He smiled, and nodded respectfully at the both of them. He started to walk away, but then stopped, and walked back to Todd.

"Just incase we don't see each other for a while..." He grabbed her right hand, and kissed it. "Parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow" he said, smiling at her charmingly. He nodded at Lupin respectfully again, and turned around, walking away.

Todd was completely shocked. She didn't know what to do or what too say. Her eyes showed shock and confusion, but... she was very content. Damien was so romantic, but Lupin was right there... she didn't know why she was acting this way. Todd looked up at Lupin, scared of what she might see. Lupin was staring at the ground.

"He's a nice boy." And he started walking in the direction they had been before Damien had come. Lupin kept his eyes on the floor, but walked slowly.

Todd bit her lip and walked behind him slowly, still sort of nervous.

"He's...alright." Her eyes shimmered with the slightest bit of tears.

Lupin was upset, she always knew when he was... she wished she could show him that she had no interest in Damien...although he was extremely good looking...and romantic...and...

Lupin stopped walking all of a sudden and sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking around before resting his eyes on Todd. He couldn't help but smile just a little bit, for every time he saw her, everything in the world seemed a little brighter.

Todd ran into Lupin, not paying attention, stepped back and laughed a little to herself.

"Ah...sorry." Todd scratched her head.

"Todd..."

Lupin seemed completely unphased by her bumping into him. He just looked at her sadly.

"Am I keeping you from...things you...want?" A flicker of sadness appeared in his eyes. He knew he was older, and less outgoing than Damien.

Todd's eyes widened. How dare he ask something like that? She...she never had told him that she loved him, however...so how was he to know any different?

"...No." Todd spoke firmly, staring up at him. "There's nothing more I want..." She shrugged a little, and continued to gaze at him.

At this, Lupin's expression softened into a more relieved look. He took his hands out of his pockets and brought her close to him, embracing in a small hug.

"I have to get going now." Lupin spoke very softly. "Meeting in the Headmaster's office. I'll see you soon, okay?"

He pulled back to look down at Todd.

Todd nodded.

"Yep. Ya know where to find me." With that, she pulled back and winked at him. "I've got plenty of things to tell you. Oh, yes..." Todd grinned mischievously. "_Many_ things." And with that, she turned and walked away, towards the Ravenclaw tower.

Lupin watched her until she disappeared, feeling much better than he used to feel.

Todd came through the portrait hole, blushing a little still, closing the portrait with a small click behind her.

"Bored yet?"

"How did it go?" Giliana asked, looking pretty comfortable on an old chair by a fireplace.

Todd walked over to Giliana.

"Oh... it went..." She paused, then laughed for a little bit, rolling her eyes. "It was interesting... Damien showed up."

"Oh my. Damien is so charming...what did he say to you?" Giliana asked with slight excitement.

She didn't know where to begin. "Well, he thought Lupin was my father... and then he invited me to a party on New Year's...and quoted Shakespeare.." Todd ran a hand through her hair, blowing a strand of it out of her eyes.

"Sounds like the perfect conversation." Giliana said, sarcastically.

"How did Lupin feel?"

"Not good." Todd frowned. Then, her expression turned slightly dreamy. "But, I think he'll be okay now.." She smirked.

"Oh well, he can't be upset during Christmas. Especially with the gift you're about to buy him" Giliana smiled, "Come on, let's go to Hogsmeade before it gets too late."

"Hah. Alright." Todd headed back towards the door, grabbing her long black trench coat that was hanging on a coat rack, looking forward to what tonight may bring. "Let's head out." Todd turned back at Giliana with a grin.

Todd and Giliana made their way down the steps, excited for the trip to Hogsmeade. They left the tower through the large black wooden door, and into the dark corridor that lead to it. But, someone was lurking in the dark.

Snape was on his way to the Headmaster's office for a meeting between those at the Order. But he stopped as he heard two people ahead of him, he flicked his wand and it let out a small light, enough for him to see as he approached them.

"Why do you have your wand out...?" Giliana asked, wondering why he had it pointing at her. Was she a threat?

Snape blinked, seeing who it was. His eyes widened a little, but then calmed.

"It was dark..." Snape spoke in his normal brooding way. He looked at Todd, and back to Giliana. "What are you two doing?" He looked a little suspicious. Todd blinked.

"I had to stop by my common room and go in there, ya know...alone... had to get my...things." She motioned to her messenger back and trench coat. "Alone, of course. She waited outside." Todd raised an eyebrow. "What about you? Looking for rare potion constituents?"

Snape growled, his eyebrows forming a v on his forehead.

Giliana looked down. Things were feeling a bit awkward.

"Not quite, Miss Black...and I'd watch your sarcasm if I were you..." He threatened, and meant it. His dark eyes looking mysterious. He pointed the light at Todd as if interrogating her. "..I'm late for a meeting. I have no time for this." He lowered his wand, making a sour face at Todd before glancing at Giliana. "I think that I might need your...assistance...in the dungeons on Christmas.

Giliana looked up at him. "Assistance on Christmas?" She smiled slightly, looking at him through direct eye contact. "Well, okay." She was jumping inside.

Snape nodded, seeming a little... stiffer all of a sudden. "Very well then..." He looked once more at Todd, looking her over, as if searching for something she was doing wrong. He then put out his light and walked away into the darkness.

Giliana watched him walk away until he was out of sight as if he was walking away with a piece of her. She wished they could have at least embraced.

Todd took a moment to let it sink in. Her eyes moved from the vanishing figure of Snape back to Giliana, her mouth open.

"Well. That was... obvious." She grinned.

"Really." Giliana took a short pause. "...Was it?" Her cheeks were a little rosy.

"Oh yeah.. using each other's first names..." she laughed. "It was kinda creepy." Todd teased a little, but wasn't entirely joking...

Giliana stared at her.

"I don't know what it is about him. This will sound strange, but..."she paused as they opened the doors leading to the school grounds. "We don't really say much, and there is much I have yet to learn about him...but..." She smiled slightly "I feel as if I've known him all my life...well, for most of it at least..."

Todd smirked a little.

"Yeah?" She nodded. "It's not that strange...it's really just...seeing him being with someone, that's the strange part." She laughed a little. "Really, though...I'm happy for you." She shivered a little as the cold air met her body, she then put on the trench coat with ease. "Off to Hogsmeade?"

Giliana and Todd journeyed into the cold, snow crunching on their feet, the cool wind nipping at their noses. The horseless carriages took them and a handful of others to Hogsmeade. It was a bumpy, but calm and scenic ride. When they arrived, the place was alive with activity, a sort of energy hung in the air. The energy that only happened around holidays, the greatest of these was Christmas. And, after all, it was the day before Christmas eve. Todd put her hands in her trench coat pockets, her wide eyes looking around, absorbing in everything she could. "So, where should we look?" She spoke to Giliana, hoping for suggestions... because she had no idea even where to begin to shop for Lupin...

Giliana looked around frantically. She hadn't been to Hogsmeade in a longtime. Her eyes lit up in excitement.

"Oh...How about that store?" She pointed to Galdrags wizardwear.

The two of them walked along the snow, and through the door. The place was crowded; there were many students, witches and wizards frantically running around the place, trying to take care of their last-minute shopping for the Holiday. The store had various items besides clothing. There was a smaller section with household items, another small section of fine jewelry, and holiday sweets were found throughout the store. The place was decorated with various floating ornaments and wreaths.

Giliana walked over to the section of household items. There was a beautiful self-stirring cauldron on display, in a beautiful shade of ebony and had a star engraved on its side. Giliana took out her moneybag. The cauldron was very expensive, but she had enough galleons from a couple of years' worth of savings. She took one of them off the shelves, and brought it over to the Wizard at the cashier. The witch at the desk used a shrinking spell on the cauldron to make it easier to carry, and put a slip of parchment with the reverse spell in the bag. Giliana paid her the galleons, and carried the bag around the store with the one gift she had bought for the person she couldn't get off her mind.

Todd blinked, moving over to a glass case, looking at magical jewelry. Some necklaces that turned colors, pocket watches that told where a person was supposed to be, then she stopped. Todd saw a beautiful gold watch, bound in dark brown leather, the color Lupin wore so much...it came in a series that kept track of many things. Some were star charts, some were planet locations, and the one she found... it kept track of the moon's phases. Todd grinned. This would be perfect for Lupin. But when she gazed on the price... she frowned. No way she could afford it. Todd put her hand on top of the glass, watching it's many hands turn and click.

Giliana walked over to Todd, holding a huge paper bag that bore the store's name on it. She held it with both hands.  
"Have you decided on what you want to get him?" She smiled, slightly.

Todd jumped a little and hit her knee on the counter. "Ow" She scrunched her nose up, then looked at Giliana with a shrug. "Heh, not really.." She eyed the watch again.

Giliana looked at Todd again, hearing no reply. "You set on getting him that watch? Seems like a good idea..."

"Yeah. I think I will..." She then asked the person behind the desk to get it to buy. Todd bit her lip and pulled out a handful of coins, counting them out on the counter. "Yes.. I have enough." She spoke in a whisper to Giliana to the side, before pushing the coins towards the lady and purchasing it.  
Giliana smiled. "Alright. Want to head over to the Three Broomsticks for a bit?"  
"Sure." She grabbed the bag, happy, but slightly regretful. How could she admit that it was all of the money she had to Giliana? And how would she get Giliana her present? No matter.. she shook the troubling thoughts from her mind and began to walk out of the door. "Well, what did you get Mr. dark and brooding?" She teased, looking up at the white sky.  
Giliana smiled, thoughtfully. She lifted the bag with a bit of a heave, and had Todd notice its size. "Self-stirring cauldron."  
"Ooh, nifty." Todd smirked, looking down at the foot of snow on the ground. They reached the Three Broomsticks after passing a group of very young girls, giggling at something unknown, and a couple of lovers who were displaying their affections by snogging against a neighboring building.

They walked into the crowded Pub, and managed to find two empty seats by a table. The whole place was dimly lit with a candle on each table, and various Christmas decorations floating about. Giliana ordered them two butterbeers, and offered to pay for them both. The two of them relaxed and talked. Even though things hadn't been at its best for Giliana, she was very content now. It had been a while since Giliana had someone like Todd. A friend.

Giliana and Todd took their time in the Three Broomsticks, until it turned dark, they rode a carriage back up to the school, and went to sleep right away, dreaming of Christmas eve, and then...Christmas itself. They both slept in very much into the next day, before finally emerging from the Room of Requirement and going about their own ways, vowing to meet late tonight in the room. It was around 7:00 p.m. when Todd and Lupin met up outside, near the edges of the forbidden forest. Snape was being broody and antisocial, his potions classroom locked.

Giliana walked down the dungeons, indecisive on where to go. She thought of Snape, and what he was doing. She was very confused at their relationship. It had happened too quickly, and they didn't talk to each other much. Snape was usually cold, and not affectionate. Giliana wasn't sure if their feelings were mutual. She wasn't even sure of _what_ she felt for him. She stopped walking, and leaned against the cold stone wall in the leaky dungeons. Right now, all she wanted, was to be _near_ him. Nothing else.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 – Christmas Eve**

Snape grunted slightly, standing and waving his wand at the few potions brewing, making them disappear. He didn't feel like making potions right now. He didn't feel like doing much of anything. Snape walked to his door that lead to his personal quarters and muttered something, waving his wand, and personally undoing the last lock that appeared at the top of the door. Opening it, he didn't close it behind him, and he walked in, running a hand through his hair. He _loathed_ Christmas.

Giliana instinctively began walking to the Potions room. When she arrived, she tried to open the door. It was locked. She took out her wand and whispered "Alohomora," and the door opened. She walked into the disserted classroom. She walked about the room, passing desks, observing any evidence that Snape had just been there. He wasn't there, yet, she didn't feel alone.

She walked over to his desk, as if a piece of him was lying there. She sat down in it. She looked around the room, _wondering_ what goes on in his head most of the time that he's teaching. What he thought of her. What he thought of them...

Snape moved his mirror down from the walls. He didn't want to look at himself. It bumped against the wall and made a rather loud noise. Snape remained unphased. He then took off his robe, revealing black pants and a dark green button up shirt.

Giliana heard a noise coming from somewhere close by. It startled her. She sat up, moving the desk slightly._  
Clank! _A small paperweight in the shape of a ball, rolled off of Snape's desk. Startled, Giliana bent over to pick it up.

Snape blinked. What was that noise? He then turned and picked up his wand that he had layed on his dresser, and opened his door, peering out. His eyes came to rest on Giliana. He swallowed.

"What...are you doing?" He looked slightly sour, his eyes glared at her from across the room.

Giliana looked up at Snape, hitting her head on the edge of the desk as she lifted it. Her cheeks turned a little pink, embarrassed for being so clumsy.  
She was speechless.

"I..." She said, with a blank expression on her face.

Snape took a moment to look around. "Get out." He stated harshly, before walking back into his room, not bothering to shut the door behind him.

"I'm sorry, Sev, er, Professor." She said. She was scared, embarrassed and nervous all at the same time. "...Wanted to see if you needed anything."

Snape barely heard her from the other room. He sighed, irritated. He cared either too much that she was here, or not at all. Pausing, he turned and stood in between the threshold of his quarters and his classroom.

"It doesn't matter...you're here anyway. Stay if you'd like." He looked at the ground for a moment, before meeting her gaze again. "And, it's Severus." He almost commanded her, no trace of humor on his face.

Giliana paused in her nerves, searching for conversation to end the awkward situation. She looked around the classroom. She wondered how anyone, could possibly spend their Christmas day in this gloomy dungeon where one couldn't tell night from day unless looking out a fake window.  
"Severus..." She began, breaking the silence.

"What?" He said sharply, still staring at the ground. His posture stiff, his hair in his face. The air of the classroom seemed dull and still.  
She took her eyes off the ground, and looked up at him. Her heart jumped. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She had no idea what she was trying to say. She couldn't understand herself. Her mind was racing in different directions.  
"I..." she finally gathered some of her thoughts. "I wanted to..." She stopped, again.  
Snape lifted his head slowly, and looked at her, there was no glare in his eyes, only a curiosity and tiredness.

"..Yes?" He spoke with his deep voice, and straightened his posture.  
Giliana looked down again, afraid to make eye contact. She looked over to the side of the room, trying to make sense of herself, and her feelings.  
"I..." She sighed. She knew what she wanted to say, but she was afraid. She turned her head, and looked at him. "May I ask you something?"  
Snape looked suspicious. He moved to the side of the door and leaned on it, crossing his arms. He watched her for a moment.

"Yes, you may..."

"I wanted to know...if..." She stopped. She couldn't...

Snape hit the wall with his fist, before storming over to her and grabbing her.

"What is it, girl?" His eyes were full of rage. Each word he bit off quickly. His hair was all in his face, the look of a madman.

"I..." She looked at him, shocked and scared at his reaction. He left her speechless.  
She tried to turn away, tried to free herself from his hands.  
"Let---go--of--me..." She struggled, now afraid of what he might do next.

He kissed her. A rough one at first. He pulled her closer and turned the kiss into a slow and passionate one.

Giliana gave in at first, weakened by the kiss. Suddenly, she frowned, and resisted; breaking away from him.  
"No." She looked away, afraid.  
"..." Snape was speechless. He let go of her shoulders and glared at her, searching for a reason. "What?" His voice was quiet, but the quietness didn't hold back his rough nature.

"I...I can't." She said, coldly. She looked away. "It's not...right." She had a serious look on her face, one of sadness and fear.

Snape paused, then considered the situation. _Fine. Just fine._ His eyebrows scrunched together.

"I see...fine, then. Fine." He turned from her and moved back to his personal quarters. "You may go now, Miss Lenore." And he slammed the door shut behind him.

Giliana turned her head and watched as he slammed the door. She extended her arm, as if to reach out to him, and slowly lowered it. Tears began to run down her flushed cheeks. _What happens now?_ She walked out of the classroom, gloomily.

Lupin and Todd were taking a stroll by the forbidden forest. Todd kept looking into it, mystified. The sounds of the trees and creatures were a constant calm hum in the cold night.  
"So." Lupin smirked. "What were you saying about Professor Snape?"  
Todd laughed a little, looking down at the ground. "Ah, riiight." Taking a moment, she ran it through her head. "It seems, well.. he has an interest in a female."  
Lupin's eyes widened. "What? hah, and I thought he thoroughly enjoyed being alone.."  
"Yep.." Todd smirked.  
"Any idea who?" Lupin looked up ahead of them, as if scouting.  
"...Yeah. Giliana."  
Lupin didn't say anything for a while. "Wow."

Damien was quietly walking down by the forrest...when he saw two people a few yards away. He walked closer, and realized it was Todd. He smiled. He kept walking, slowly.

Todd laughed. "Yeah."  
Lupin then shrugged. His thoughts wandering.  
Todd looked up at him. "So, we were talking about Sirius earlier... before interrupted." Todd smiled a little. "What were you saying?"  
Lupin nodded, his face suddenly becoming a little grim. "Ah.. yes.. well, you see, Todd.."

"Todd!" A voice came from behind. It was Damien. He smiled at her his charming smile, with his perfect, shinny teeth. "I'm so glad I've run into you!" He said, as he rushed over to her.  
Lupin closed his eyes, sighing deeply. He wanted to disappear. But, he turned and greeted the boy kindly.  
Todd jumped a little. "Ah.. Damien." She smiled slightly. "Hey."  
Damien nodded politely and Lupin, and looked back at Todd, smiling. He stopped to catch his breath.  
"Sorry," he breathed, "but I saw you and had to come up to you at once. I have something for you." He smiled.

Todd's eyes widened. For her? "What?" She laughed a little.  
Lupin put his hands in his pockets.  
Damien reached into a pocket in his robes, and pulled out a small box, with a bow on it.  
"Just a little something I got you for Christmas." He smiled sweetly, as he handed it to her.

Todd took the box. "Wow." She was speechless, she played with the bow for a bit. "Thank you." She felt guilty for not having a gift in return. Lupin cleared his throat quietly, rocking a little on his heels, watching the two of them.

"Well, it's getting late, and I'd better be going." He smiled, and kissed her hand, keeping full eye contact. He nodded politely at Lupin, and then back at Giliana. "Happy Christmas to you both." He smiled, as he started to walk away. "I am really looking forward to seeing you at the party Todd." He smiled, and turned around as he walked away.  
Todd blinked, her mouth wide open.  
Lupin glared at the disappearing romancer.  
"I.. really should be getting back now." Lupin said.  
Todd bit her lip, and took his hand. "Ignore him."  
Lupin hesitated, but gripped her hand. "...It's okay. That's not what's bothering me."  
Todd gave him a questioning look.  
"I'm supposed to leave for a meeting...I'll be back tomorrow night." He put his hand on his forehead, looking more tired than ever.

"Ah." Todd frowned.  
Lupin turned and looked down at her, pushing some hair out of her face, and touching her cheek. "Have a good night." He then kissed her on the forehead.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – Christmas Morning 

Todd and Giliana went to sleep that night in the Room of Requirement. They didn't talk much before they layed down and went to sleep. They had both been in different places, but didn't want to talk about it. It was warm and toasty in the room, and they fell asleep almost instantly. Todd slept next to the tree.   
Morning came. Three gifts layed under the tree. The house elves must have known where they were. Todd was half asleep.

"All gemnis... to the raspberry hats.." she mumbled, turning over and bumping into the wall. "Ow.." she woke up, rubbing her head.

Giliana had already been awake when she noticed Todd waking up.  
"Had a dream?" She asked her, with her normal, blank expression on her face.

"I don't remember..." Todd yawned, and looked at the tree.

Todd stood up and stretched her arms out. "Wow. Looks like someone got you something, Giliana." She winked, kneeling at the tree, seeing her two presents. One from Lupin, one from Giliana. She was excited.

Giliana's present was in a huge box with holes, and it moved every once and awhile, it had a huge shimmering teal bow on top, with black wrapping paper.

Giliana was sitting on a couch, staring into the fireplace, expressing no interest in presents.  
"Aw...come on." She teased. "It's from me." Todd reached for her present from Lupin, playing with the bow on top of it. "Don't insult me." Todd grinned at her.  
"Hmm?" Giliana looked over at Todd. "Oh. Sorry, I'm just not used to getting presents on Christmas anymore..." She quietly walked over to the tree. "Which one?"  
Todd pointed to the black one, which moved again. She smiled mischievously. Turning to her own present, she slowly began to unwrap it, still watching Giliana.  
Giliana picked up the box, and set it down beside her. She untied the bow, and tore off the wrapping paper. She lifted the top of the box. Out popped the little head of a black kitten, its yellow eyes beeming out in curiosity at Giliana. _"Meow," _it squeaked.  
Todd grinned, not saying anything. She watched the kitten with a smile. She had ordered her last night, using every last coin she had. She didn't regret it one bit.  
Giliana smiled. "Oh Todd, it's adorable." She picked it up, and hugged it, as the cat purred away.  
"It's a she." Todd watched her. She felt great about giving it to her. She then opened Lupin's gift. It was a bronze colored box, decorative flowers engraved into it. Todd opened it, it was a music box. "Iris" played, she smiled. But the greatest shock came next. Inside was a picture of the Young and extremely handsome Sirius, holding a baby, who had a small Mohawk. Todd gasped. Sirius was waving, and making the baby wave too. It was her. _Her and her father_. Picking the picture up, Todd stared at it, in awe.  
"I think I'll name her Persephone," Giliana said happily, snuggling the cat. She looked over at Todd, noticing her fixation with a photo. "Picture of someone special?" She asked.  
Todd nodded a little, not taking her eyes from it. Her look of shock slowly turned into a warm smile, her eyes were sort of teary.  
Giliana walked over and looked at the picture. "Oh." She smiled slightly, realizing how important it was. "That was very thoughtful of Lupin, wasn't it?"  
"Yeah." She smirked a little. She then realized that Giliana might recognize him...maybe. How he looked in the wanted posters was completely different to how he looked now and then. She casually put it down and into the box. "Well, time for your present."

Giliana smiled slightly. "Well, it's not a photo, or a music box..." She grabbed it and handed it to Todd.  
Persephone walked over and sniffed the present that Todd was about to open. Todd opened the decent sized box after tearing off the paper. There was a huge box of chocolates. Todd laughed out loud at that, before picking up a life-sized stuffed fox. Todd gasped, seeing what it was. She read the tag:

"_Just say the word 'Vulpinus' and this animal will come to life!"_

Todd looked at the fox, speechless. "Oh my god...thank you Giliana." She looked at Giliana, her grey eyes sparkling. "Now your kitty will have someone to play with." She grinned. "Vulpinus," She spoke after laying the toy fox on the ground. It took a moment, but started moving slowly, before jumping up, and glancing around at everyone, it's stuffed tail swaying.

Persephone walked over to the fox. She poked at it with her paws. When it moved, she jumped, and ran and hid behind Giliana.  
"I thought you would like it." Giliana smiled. She turned and looked back at the fire, suddenly losing interest again. Her smile turned into a slight frown, as Persephone rubbed against her, trying to get her attention.  
The fox followed the kitty, pawing it on it's head. Todd laughed a little. Then she noticed Giliana, looking at the fireplace with a rather, depressed look on her face. "Hey, something up?"  
Giliana's face suddenly broke back to her blank expression. She turned and looked at Todd.

"N-nothing...it's just...Professor Snape."  
Giliana looked worried.  
"Ah.." Todd frowned a little bit. "Did he lash out or something?"  
"I don't know..." Giliana buried her head in her hands. "I saw him last night...things didn't go so well."  
Todd put a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"Hey, if he does care about you.. it'll all work out." She paused, the fox and Persephone were running around the room. "Why don't you go give him your present today? I'm sure he would appreciate some company on Christmas...whether he admits it or not."

Giliana sighed and turned to look at Todd, making perfect eye contact. "I'm scared." Her eyes began to water. "Last night...I finally realized how much I really care for him...That I _love_ him...and it scared me. The last time I felt this way about someone didn't---" she stopped, as if she shouldn't have said something. "Was a long time ago." She sniffed. "I tried to tell him how I felt last night...without even realizing it. And when I did, I pulled away from him...I think he got the wrong idea." She stopped, keeping herself from becoming more emotional.  
Todd paused, frowning in sympathy, thinking for a moment. She never was too good at cheering people up. So she decided to tell the truth, how she saw it.

"I...I don't think he's mad at you. I think he's just disagreeable by nature...he obviously enjoys your company...you should..." She sighed. "Go see him. Give him the present... he'll come around." She half smiled for a moment, looking into her eyes. "Trust me."  
Giliana smiled slightly, her eyes still filled with sadness.

"Yes. I'll go give him the present." She was still afraid. She knew from the moment she had first kissed him, what a mess she was getting herself into...  
She walked over and grabbed the huge box wrapped in black and green metallic paper, and tapped it with her wand to shrink it so that she could easily carry it around. She put on her robes, and held it with her arm. "I guess I'll see you in a bit." She smiled slightly, still looking worried, and headed out the door.  
"Good luck." Todd waved a little, worried about her.

Snape was sitting at his desk, staring out a fake window. His eyes were glazed over and tired, and his hair messy. He wore his normal cloak. He looked miserable.

Giliana walked down the dungeons, all the way to the potion's classroom. The door was still open, it had been untouched since the night before. Giliana walked in slowly, making sure no one was there. She walked over to a corner of the room, noticing there was no tree of course, and set down the little box on the floor. With a tap of her wand, it grew back to its original size. She left a note, saying that it was from her. She sighed, and sat down. She wanted to leave, but _needed_ to be there.

Giliana walked down the dungeons, all the way to the potion's classroom. The door was still open, it had been untouched since the night before. Giliana walked in slowly, making sure no one was there. She froze when she noticed Snape was at his desk.

Snape looked up calmly after hearing a noise.

"Miss Lenore..." He spoke softly, recognizing who it was. "Do you need something?" He sneered.  
"A few days ago you told me you were going to need my assistance today. Here I am." She said. He didn't say anything. There was an awkward silence.  
Giliana pulled the small box out of her robes, and walked over to his desk, her heart racing, and nervous as ever. "I got you a present..." she held it up.  
Snape had forgotten. He took a moment to look her over, his upper lip raised in a sort of disgust. But, it lowered, and he just looked at her in a sort of shock. A present, for _him_? He blinked, not knowing what to say. He tried to say something, but nothing came out.  
"It's small, but only because I shrunk it so I could carry it." Giliana walked to the side of his desk, and set it down on the floor. With a tap of her wand, she brought it back to its original size. She turned and looked away, nervously.  
He just looked at her, not bothering to glance for more than a moment to the box. He then looked down at his desk, at nothing.  
Giliana looked around the room. "I guess you don't need me Professor." She tried to sound casual. She slowly began to walk towards the door.  
"Thank you." He said simply, completely sincere. He couldn't believe himself for saying it. He never showed signs of gratitude.  
Giliana stopped walking and turned around to face him. She smiled at him slightly, her eyes slightly worried. She wanted him to know how she felt. She really did.

"You can stay, if you want." He mumbled, standing. "Nothing better to do..." He still seemed severely troubled about yesterday. He turned to a table next to his desk, fooling with some bottles.

Giliana thought for a moment. She knew how things would end up if she told him, and if he felt the same way. But something inside her drove her towards him, despite all of her objections. She quietly walked over to him, and tapped him on the shoulder.  
Snape turned to her, raising an eyebrow.

"What?"  
She kissed him softly. She was hoping her actions could speak for her unspoken words.  
He was surprised. He pulled back and looked at her, almost feeling like doing the same thing she did to him last night, but he just moved a piece of hair out of her face and started the kiss again.


End file.
